Soul Eater Rage
by Iroh Koza
Summary: A story of Christian Davis and his brother Brian. Christian is a meister, his brother his weapon and the world his canvas. He serves Lord Death faithfully, drawing ever closer to his dream of being the best meister who ever lived. A country gentleman, ready for what lies ahead, or so he thinks.
1. Chapter 1

This story is centered on one Christian Davis and his brother. We begin the story about a month after the first orientation at the DWMA as Christian was unable to attend due to family issues. Christian is easy going and a pleasure to be around, he comes from small town USA, and has a secret not even he knows about.

_Hello, my name is Iroh. I am a young writer that does this in my free time in a way to keep my skills sharp. I will be posting these a chapter at a time until I get tired of it. The more people like it the more I write, simple as that. Feel free to comment criticism and praise in the comments as both are welcomed._

Soul Eater Rage

Normally one would think of intense boredom and misery when thinking of a new school. However to Christian Davis and his brother Brian it meant a new life. An escape from farm work and the black-hole that is their home town. Benton, Tennessee famous only for hard workers and whitewater rafting. Buildings dotted farmland and downtown consisted of; a bank, a florist, a sonic, and grocery store.

Christian and Brian had waited for seventeen years before finally convincing their parents to let them go to the Academy. With Brian's gift he and Christian had known many a ridicule. Christian had his face against the glass of the bus. The Greyhound's seats were anything but comfortable but he couldn't complain. Not that he liked it. It was just his nature. So he, with cheek to glass, watched the desert of Arizona go by. Kind of soothing actually. Brian sat behind him, his legs tucked up in the seat and his head laying on his knees. From this ball snoring could be heard. A pair of headphones hung from his ears. The heavy beat of Disturbed's Avarice was barely audible.

Christian possessed the build of a track runner, lean and muscular with a broad chest and toned legs. Years on the farm had permetanned his skin to the point that one would argue it was his natural skin color. One would also never guess the Chinese blood that coursed through his veins, from his mother, passed down generations until it rolled to a temporary stop within the one eighth of Christian's body, to be passed to his child and the next and so on. His skin nor eyes gave no indication of oriental descent. His black hair reached halfway down his ears before curling up slightly at the tips, and a dark scruff claimed his jaw line and upper lip. Hazel eyes set slightly deeper than most people, and thin, pale lips grouped with his father's thick, half-Russian nose completed the look. His attire matched his nature as it consisted of jeans, work boots, a dark blue plain t-shirt, and an unbuttoned white pen-stripe shirt.

Brian remained in the curled ball he had assumed. Unlike his brother, Brian possessed a much more muscular build, more akin to a college linebacker than Christian's track n' field physique. Like Christian, Brian's skin was tanned permanently to the sun kissed bronze that belonged to blue collars. Thanks to genetics, Brian's Chinese blood was slightly more pronounced than his brother, possessing slightly elongated eyes and a flatter forehead and cheekbones, as well as his father's nose. Thicker lips inherited from his mother and German ears from his father, topped with his mother's dark brown eyes. Both children would be considered cocktails of ethnic origins; 1/8 Chinese, 1/4 Russian, 1/8 German, 1/16 Cherokee, 1/16 Black Dutch, 1/8 Anglo, and 1/4 Irish, a true touch of everything. Brian wore denim cargo pants with a chain hooked to his belt loop and wallet, a t-shirt with Avenged 7x emblazoned on the front and a leather bracelet on his wrist bearing the RED emblem imprinted on the back side facing him, around his neck, he wore a Celtic cross on a length of paracord.

Christian let his eyes grow heavy and slowly drifted into a peaceful slumber, letting the gentle drone of the asphalt be his lullaby. Sleep greeted him with open arms and took him to his subconscious, he dreamed he was alone. Alone in an open space. Standing in a grassy field. Waist high and waving in the wind. A single tree broke the sea. An oak tree, standing tall. It reached for the clouds and beyond. Breaking the clouds at the top, breaching and flourishing for miles in each direction, its leaves sending shadows as far as the eye could see, and farther still. Hundreds upon hundreds upon thousands of branches varying in width and thickness. Some as big as cars. Some but simple twigs.

Suddenly a squall came. Wind, rain, and hail. Falling in solid sheets of precipitation. The tree swayed, buffeted by the storm raging around it. The branches whipped in cascades as the wind ripped through them. Leaves and debris flew all around Christian, soaking him to the bone. The whole of nature's wrath blew against the great tree. Until, finally. with a crack and an earth shaking groan the tree came uprooted. It fell. So slowly. In slow motion. To the ground. Inch by inch. Foot by long foot. Mile by unfathomable mile. Until it touched ground. The miles it had grown. So tall, so wide and grand. It meant nothing now, just rot. It landed with a ground shaking crash. Then came the other branches on top of it. They fell faster, much faster, driven by physics. They crashed in rippling succession, snapping and breaking in waves and droves. Christian watched as the once great tree became nothing but a great log, lying on the ground to be reclaimed by the earth. Within a year nothing would serve as proof of it ever standing. Then Christian noticed the root ball, so tiny for the tree, barely three yards across.

Then a sound was heard above the squall, chimes. Christian turned, and saw another tree. It was buffeted by the storm, rain and wind bending the branches on themselves. It stood, bending slightly in the storm, not much at all. A set of wind chimes hung from the lowest branch and now flew perpendicular to the tree itself, ringing high above the screaming winds. Though the tree bent it did not break, leaves and branches flew off in cascades, but the tree stood with its fruit hanging desperately to the branches.

As suddenly as it had begun, the rain ceased and the sky was clear. Christian slowly walked to the tree and felt it. It was solid. Standing tall and proud. Full of life, and vigor. Then the ground gave way, dirt falling away and revealing miles upon miles of roots. Roots extending in every direction, mirroring the first tree's branches underground. Twenty feet tall with a root ball miles wide, the reason it didn't fall.

"Christian." A thump on the head. Christian opened his eyes to see Brian standing in the aisle, his arms above his head searching the overhead bin. "We're here." Christian yawned stretched as far as he could in the confined space, his dream already fading to naught but mist. These dreams were normal, an allegory, always a riddle, he stopped trying to figure them out while he was still young.

"We have arrived at Death City, we are now unloading marked luggage and ask that those departing exit in a quiet and timely manner." Brian tossed Christian his bag and took his own in his arms. "Come on."

Christian gave a slight grunt as he stood and exited his seat, and stood among the six others exiting with him. They exited the bus in seconds and stood on the sidewalk. Christian reached over and grabbed his duffel bag and suitcase, as Brian did the same.

The air was hot, hot and dry, arid and stale. The sun above smiled at the scene below, the city with the DWMA as the crown jewel. Huge, that's a word to describe it, the Academy. For the next few months it would be their home, if they're lucky years.

Before them stood the grand staircase leading directly into the academy. Around them a collective scattering of houses and other leisurely businesses such as cafes and restaurants. All, in their own manner, scattered around the base of the great academic building. "That's a lot of stairs." Brian mumbled under his breath, Christian grunted in agreement.

Without speaking a word Christian sprinted ahead of Brian and started running up the stairs. Brian smiled and accepted the informal challenge to a race, he sprinted ahead of his brother in moments. However, the eighty pound advantage over Christian almost immediately took its toll. By the time he was a third the way up the stairs he was heaving with each desperate breath. On the other hand, Christian sprinted by Brian barely halfway up the steps. Unlike his brother he was merely sipping air in short controlled breaths, compared to the guzzling gasps coming from Brian's mouth.

Minutes later Christian stood at the top of the stairs, his arms above his head and his back slightly arched. At his feet Brian lay on his back gasping for air, face red with heat. "You're not human you skinny bastard." Christian smiled and picked up his bags. "Control your breathing, that's half the battle."

Ahead of them stood a young man with cyan hair. "COME ON FIGHT ME!" He called to everyone and none in particular. "All at once, everyone of you! I'll beat all of you to a bloody pulp!" He called. "There's only room for one Star here and that's me, BLACKSTAR!"

Christian shook his head and turned towards the door heading toward the dorm rooms. "Come on Brian, let's find our room." Brian watched for a moment before reluctantly turning away and following his brother. "If he's here when we get back, we'll fight him." Brian perked up at that.

After a few minutes of walking they came to their dorm. An sixteen by twelve box, with a section cut off for the kitchen and a small single bedroom with two twin size beds and a single bed table sitting between them. The bathroom was nestled neatly in the corner with a diagonal wall separating it from the main room. Nothing fancy, merely a single toilet and matching sink with a standalone shower. "Our own bathroom, that's rare." Christian remarked as he walked toward the center of the room.

"No dishwasher, and that's a very small fridge." Brian countered.

"You've never stayed in a dorm room have you?"

Brian shook his head in negative. "This is spacious, I stayed in a dorm at MTSU during a workshop. Four guys in a room as big as this commons, it was a blessing just to step out of the door." Christian walked to the closet and opened it to reveal two separate hanging racks and a dresser in the bottom. "It even has decent storage."

Brian went to the bedroom and took note of the three drawers on the undersides of the beds. "Just claim a bed for now, toss your crap on it and we'll head on down to see if that kid is still talking big." Christian called from the kitchen.

Ten minutes later they stood in the courtyard once again and listened to the constant ranting of the cocky young boy. Christian silently watched waited until finally a student walked up to him and accepted his challenge.

The kid cocked back and laughed heartily before calling his weapon to him. She timidly walked to him. She was beautiful, by Christian's standards at least, a tall Japanese girl sporting a slit dress and a choker, and her long black hair bound in a tight ponytail. She reached the boy and assumed the form of a kusorigama. The next minute, Blackstar stood worsted by the unfortunate spear meister.

"You ready Brian?" Christian asked with a smile. Brian cracked a similar smile and nodded enthusiastically before assuming his weapon form. Brian's weapon form stood at six feet even, a black pole four feet long ornamented with gold ribbons and emblazing resembling a dragon head with its mouth swallowing the base of the two foot blade. The blade itself was cold steel with silver etchings extending from the mouth and mimicking flames licking the edges. A glaive, as it commonly referred to, is in essence a sword on a very long pole, and his brother is one of the only Glaive masters in existence. "I'll take the bait!"

Blackstar had a gleeful shine in his eye as he turned to accept the challenge. "Who are you?" He shouted, "Haven't seen ya around here."

"I got in late, missed orientation, but remember me, not because of what I say, but what I will do." With this Christian swung his Glaive at Blackstar in a high arc, stretching his nine foot reach as far as he could. Not at all to Christian's surprise Blackstar caught the blade on the sickle part of his blade and wrapped his chain around it. "This will be fun." Christian said through a reptilian grin.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to those who spent the few minutes of their lives reading the first chapter, more to come and shout out to Cpt. Feels for being my first follower. _

CHAPTER 2

Christian glared at the child standing exactly eight feet two inches away from him. He suddenly lunged forward, condensing that space to barely two feet, and sent an open hand palm at Blackstar's chest. Those gifted with the ability to see souls would notice the intense charge of power focused on the exact center of the hand. Blackstar leapt back instinctively and dodged the blow by mere inches. In the same motion Christian threw all of his weight on the pole of his weapon, knocking the blade loose of the chains, and turned it so that the blade now faced directly at Blackstar. The speed at which this happened shocked Blackstar to the point that the Weapon's human arm shot out and pushed him out of the way in order to dodge the hit.

Christian dropped his guard and smiled at Blackstar. "Good weapon there, might I know the pretty lady's name?" He asked.

Blackstar growled and rose his weapons in a fighting position. "I'm Blackstar, the biggest guy around that was just beginner's luck that you even got that close to me in the first place! Me and Tsubaki will not be beaten by you, I don't even know you, how dare you think you can beat a big star like me!"

"Blackstar, was it? And the flower without scent, Tsubaki." Christian gave a genuine smile and nodded at them. "I accept you as my first real opponents in my entire life, prove to me you are as good as you say." Christian leveled the blade at his opposition and swung the blade out wide, resting the blade on the ground behind him.

"Be careful Blackstar, this guy is strong." Tsubaki's voice reached Christian in a whisper carried by the wind. "Such a voice, one that compliments your beauty more than any poem of praise could ever manage." Much to Christian's amusement, the blade of the sickles actually turned slightly red, blushing.

"Stop flirting Cyrano, this is a fight after all." Brian hostily interjected, "and she's the enemy." Christian shrugged. "Oriental beauty is a wonder to behold, when I spot one, especially with a voice that could call the stars from the heavens themselves, I cannot help but yearn for her to grace me with even a glance of her beauty." The blade grew from a light red to a dark red during this sentence.

Classy as ever, Blackstar screamed. "STOP YOUR FLIRTING! FIGHT ME!" And charged headlong at Christian. To this he smiled, and moments before impact Christian spun on his back foot and ducked under the outstretched sickle. With inhuman speed he slammed the blunt end of his blade against Blackstar's shin, leaving behind a dark red shiner, and then, using his shoulders as the axis, spun the staff to strike Blackstar on the back of the head. The resulting CRACK was audible for tens of yards away.

The hit would have easily rendered an average person unconscious, and a less than average one dead. However, Blackstar was neither of these and nonetheless fell to the ground bleeding from the blunt force cut hidden by hair. Christian put some distance between them and him and decided to watch the next few moments carefully.

To his amazement, and undying pleasure, Blackstar stood again on wobbling legs. "You broke two of my rules, Blackstar!" Christian spoke. "Rule six, never let impatience get the better of you. And rule two, never blindly charge the enemy." He once again gave a sincere smile, "I thought you were better than that." He taunted.

With a cry of rage Blackstar charged again, and again Christian's speed and precision left welts and bruises on him. "Stop going easy on me!" He fumed through a bloody lip. "Use your blade and fight me for real!" Christian grimaced as he swung the shallow arc between them, Blackstar ducked beneath the blade and sliced with both sickles at his opponent.

Christian avoided the scars by mere inches, his shirt now tattered from two ragged cuts.

The next strike was avoided by Christian's reflexes, the blades slicing the air as they nearly claimed his throat. Christian took a few bounding leaps back, putting several yards between them. "Looking to take a trophy are we?" Christian felt where the blades would've taken his life. "Very well, I shall take you more seriously." A moment later and Blackstar was again upon him, but this time it was different. Every attack was easily blocked and parried, and they got faster and ever faster, until their bouts were simple blurs to the onlookers.

Finally Blackstar caught the blade and restrained it, resulting in an awkward sword lock. Christian decided once again to lunge forward and attempt a soul tap. Blackstar smiled wide and twisted his body in a death row, avoiding the attack completely and wrenching the blade from Christian's hand. Christian watched in despair as the glaive clattered to the ground leaving him defenseless.

Christian instantly took the defensive, giving ground in literal leaps and bounds. Blackstar would slash and nearly connect, barely missing each strike keeping him away from his brother. Finally Christian slipped by the outstretched blade and landed a brutal hit, his palm strike resting directly on Blackstar's solar plexus. He collapsed, folding in on himself as he fell a cloud of smoke engulfed him. "What!?" Tsubaki lay crumbled on the ground.

"Ya-hoo!" Christian was surprised with a spine shattering soul tap and was lifted off the ground and thrown a few yards. "Take that you bastard!" Christian rolled to a stop at the edge of the circle of patrons. "Well *huff* that hurt."

Christian slowly crawled up on his elbows and knees. "You couldn't ever hope to beat me! A big star like me will eclipse everyone else! You'll never beat me!" Christian turned and cradled himself on his side before forcing himself to his feet. "Don't be so sure."

"Blackstar!" Tsubaki's voice reached him a millisecond to late as he was lifted high in a suplex and slammed into the ground. Brian stood smiling moments after, standing over the tangled position of Blackstar's body. His forearms grew longer, and turned too blades. "Ya don goofed son." With double, blunted, blades he swung down hard, aiming for Blackstar's chest.

Chlink! Chains caught the blades. Tsubaki kneeled before Brian, her chains protruding from her ponytail.

"Get up Blackstar!" She yelled.

"So much fight, from such tiny whelps." Brian sneered.

Christian stood to his feet. "These are not like the country bums back home Brian, they're the real thing, fighters like us." Christian walked slowly to Brian. "You hold them at bay, I need a little more time to recover." With this he sat down, crossed his legs and closed his eyes. "Gimme two minutes."

Brian nodded and kicked Tsubaki in the gut, completely ignoring her defense. She crumbled and gave a cry as Brian struck her again. Blackstar rolled lazily to his side, still stunned by the suplex. "Move aside beautiful, you are useless without your meister." Brian struck her again, and again. Again she gave a cry and a cough, blood dripped from her mouth. "Damn you're persistent."

Brian reared back for the strongest kick yet, as far as he could. Tsubaki saw it coming and braced for the hit, she watched as the foot flew through the air in the low arc that traced itself directly to her gut. Then watched as the gloved hand caught it and pulled Brian up and over his shoulder and slammed him on the ground. "It takes more than that to take me down!" Blackstar yelled.

He turned to Tsubaki and wiped the blood from her chin. "You okay?" She gave a shallow nod smiled weakly. Suddenly a shadow grew over the two and Blackstar had almost no time to react as Brian swung his blades for the side of his head. Tsubaki jumped to her feet only to receive a blunted blade to the side of the head, knocking her unconscious. "TSUBAKI!" Blackstar screamed.

Christian opened his eyes with a grim look and stood slowly to his feet. "I forfeit." Brian whipped his head around, fully intent on ripping his brother a new one. But upon seeing him, he shut his mouth and dropped his arms. "The damage you did was too great, I cannot best you." Christian referred to the soul tap. "I can't calm my soul enough to have any hope of besting you, and my brother cannot best you in single combat alone." Christian gave a shallow bow, "You win Blackstar."

Blackstar gawked at the two, sharing the reaction of the general onlooker. "You're giving up?" He practically screamed. "After all that, you don't even want to try to finish me off!"

"It's not that I won't. It's that I can't, the soul tap you performed on me made my own soul go haywire." Christian took a finger and stuck it in his mouth. He brandished it to reveal a generous amount of blood covering it. "I could not calm it down, despite my meditation it still strained and was damaged." Christian tapped his chest. "If you can see my soul, you'll notice chains surrounding it. They confine me, make me weak, and now my soul has grown erratic and they cause me physical harm, destroying my internal organs.

"At the moment I'm fine, minor bleeding and bruising. But if I keep fighting, it could be fatal." Christian shrugged his shoulders. "I've reached my limit, you win." He glanced at his gut where his shirt was ripped. "You would have to rip my shirt wouldn't you?"

Blackstar remained in his perplexed stare, utterly confused about the last five minutes. "After all that you're gonna just quit? You can't give up after just ten minutes of hard fighting!"

"I'm not giving up, you won the second you got me with your soul tap. You beat me fairly." Christian smiled. "If I keep fighting I might die." A pause. "Besides, how could I ever beat a big guy like you?"

Blackstar smiled at that. "Yeah! You'll never beat me, right Tsubaki? Tsubaki?" At that moment everyone remembered Tsubaki was passed out on the ground.

"Brian, carry her to the infirmary." Christian said. Brian turned to protest. "You knocked her out when you didn't need to, and you kicked the shit out of her. I can't carry her because of my current state." Brian shut his mouth but muttered to himself as he gently hefted her into his arms bridal style. "If you'll show us the way Blackstar." Christian asked as he wiped the thin trail of blood leaking from his lip.

"I'll handle that." A new voice, much deeper than the others. "I'll take you all to the infirmary." Brian glanced over to see a tall man with tanned skin and black hair bound in cornrows. "Nice fight kid, and you know your limits. There's no doubt in my mind that you'll skip my class completely."

"Your class?" Christian asked.

The man nodded. "You're much more advanced than anyone in my NOT class, definitely EAT material." He started walking. "I'm Professor Sidd by the way, follow me. I've never seen a soul like yours, mister?"

"Davis, Christian Davis and this is Brian."

"Christian huh? Why haven't I heard your name before today?"

"Me and Brian had to manage a few... issues before we left. Let's leave it at the fact our parents do not approve of this certain line of work."

"Why not?" Blackstar asked from behind Brian.

"Glorified mercenaries, father's words." Brian answered. "Genocidal, witch hunters, mother's. We raised our own money, bought our own tickets and trained five hours a night in secret for six years. We might as well be dead to them now."

"Sorry to hear that." Said Sidd

"Don't be, we made our choice and I intend to live by it." Christian responded.

"I like that, a choice like that should be made by every man at some point in his lifetime." Sidd explained. "That's just the kind of man I am."

Minutes later they arrived at the infirmary. "Thank you professor, but we can take it from here." Christian spoke rather quickly.

Sidd nodded and left the three boys at the door. "Welcome to the DWMA Mr. Davis!" He called behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you all for the encouraging comments and reviews. Here is Chapter 3, it is a little longer than the first two. Again, thank you for your time and support._

Chapter 3

Christian opened the door and was greeted by the smell of cinnamon, and rubbing alcohol. "Be right with you." A woman's voice, high pitched and serene. Christian stepped into the room and opened it wide to allow Brian to cross the threshold and carry Tsubaki to a nearby bed. "If you're here for the first year physical just hop in line."

"Actually ma'am, we're here to lick our wounds." Christian called back. In response an audible sigh was heard, followed by the creak of a chair and muttering. Among the indiscernible words were bits that were discernible; Blackstar, loudmouth, fighting, and pipsqueak. She continued muttering until she rounded the curtain dividing the room.

"Oh, Tsubaki." The woman wore a surprised look, perfectly framed by her beautiful blonde hair that framed her face and was bound in a braid that rested on her full breasts. Thin lips, a small nose and golden eyes complemented her look. Her lab coat hung loosely on her slim frame and covered much of her black dress. "Blackstar, you're hurt?"

"Nah! These losers thought they could fight me, and I beat them to a pulp." His arrogance seemed to radiate off of him. "They got Tsubaki, but I could've taken them both!"

"I'm sorry for the trouble, but he was standing outside challenging people and I couldn't resist." Christian explained. "Miss Tsubaki was knocked unconscious during our fight and I've suffered mild internal injuries. To my knowledge my brother, Brian, is unharmed and Blackstar has some cuts and bruises. I'm Christian by the way." Christian extended his hand in greeting.

"And you lost?" She said with a quizzical expression, then smirked and crossed her arms. "By the looks of things, I'd say Blackstar got his bells rang. Serves him right for putting six people in here a day, I told you last time Blackstar, soon you'll find someone who's better than you and it'll be too late to back out." She gave a sigh and took Christian's greeting. "Medusa, school nurse."

"They didn't beat me! I kicked their asses!" Blackstar screamed in protest.

"In his defense I am worse off than he is." Christian tapped his chest. "Take a look." Medusa knelt slightly to be level with Christian's chest and took a look at his soul. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise and she covered her mouth. "Oh my, your soul, are those scars... and chains?"

What Medusa saw was sickening to her, an orb of condensed energy covered in pits and scar tissue from where it struggled against the chains in the past. "It was born that way." Christian said softly. "I've always had them, and yes it does hurt." She watched as it fidgeted and pulsed in erratic bursts, knocking around within its restrains. "I'll be fine after a few hours of peace and quiet, but until then some Tylenol or a weak painkiller will help. Besides, I can wait, miss Tsubaki is the one who's hurt." Almost on cue Tsubaki gave a cough and a groan.

"Speak of the devil." Brian muttered. Medusa stood up and went straight to Tsubaki. After a moment of examination, checking her vitals, shining a light in her eye, and performing an arm drop test she looked at Blackstar and smiled. "She'll be fine, just a concussion and some superficial internal bleeding. Some bed rest and time and she'll be on her feet by tomorrow." Medusa suddenly got rid of her smile and locked eyes with Blackstar, "And no fighting for the next few days." Christian could've sworn he saw a spark arc across them. "Now come here and let me check that head wound." Her smile returned.

Blackstar reluctantly took a seat on a stool in front of her and let Medusa comb through his hair with her fingers until she found the wound. Christian immediately knew when she found it due to Blackstar's reaction, a shuddering wince of pain. Medusa frowned as she spread the hair out farther and observed the cut. "Blunt force trauma, enough to crack the skull. I'm surprised you're even on your feet." She smirked as Blackstar once again winced as she touched it. "Another hit like this might knock some sense into you." She looked up and gestured to the cabinet. "Christian, be a dear and hand me the iodine from the second shelf in that cabinet." Christian complied and opened the door. He spotted the dark brown bottle and grabbed it. "There should be some gauze and a pack steri-strips on the shelf below it, could you grab those too please?" Again Christian complied and closed the cabinet with a light slam. "Thank you."

Blackstar muttered something under his breath as Medusa wiped away the blood and shuddered as she poured the straight Iodine onto his bleeding scalp. "Don't get an attitude, if you didn't get into the fights all the time you wouldn't be here." She used her other piece of gauze to wipe away the excess liquid and dried it with her breath. "Now hold still, I have to get this right on the first try."

Christian smiled at the display, finding it humorous that Blackstar's maternal figure would be the school nurse. He remembered the words she spoke about, six people, a day? It made sense in Christian's mind, nothing but busy work for her. He glanced at Brian and saw him chuckling at the scene himself, but he knew the pain in his heart. Mother had denounced them when they left, tears in her eyes and screaming at her children.

...

"How dare you!" She screamed. "We raised men, not killers!" Mother screamed, each word stabbing Christian like a knife, Brian couldn't even look at her. "You shame our family! If you get on that bus, don't ever bother coming home! The door will locked, and I will disown both of you."

Christian stood in front of the bus's doors holding his bags on his shoulders. Tears claimed his face, he looked down at the ground and shook his head, slowly as if it weighed a ton. "I love you mom, I'm sorry."

They turned in unison and entered the Greyhound, Brian first, then Christian. "DEAD, YOU HEAR ME! DEAD TO ME!"

...

Her last words echoed in his mind, Christian snapped back to the real world to witness the last steri-strip being placed on Blackstar's head. He gave one last whimper as she put the last adhesive strip on Blackstar's bleeding scalp, Brian gave one last chuckle to accompany the whimpering child.

"Now, for you Christian." Christian's smile disappeared as she looked up at him. "I haven't given you two a physical, and you are new students." Medusa smiled a little. "Don't worry It won't take long. Just hop in line behind the other. You too Brian."

Christian shook his head and walked straight to a chair sitting next to the wall. Beside him sat a young man, maybe sixteen, as tall as Christian but was more akin to a skeleton than Christian when it came to build. He wore an orange polo shirt and a pair of blue jeans that met a pair of simple pair of sneakers.

Before Christian could say anything he extended a hand and greeted him with a smile. "My name's Adam, what's yours?" Christian was slightly taken aback by the man's thick Boston accent but quickly recovered and accepted the outstretched hand.

"Christian." He answered after withdrawing his hand, he gave his hand a slight shake as his fingers had been crushed by Adam's surprisingly strong grip strength. "What year are you?"

"First year as an EAT student, I spent the last three years in the NOT class, couldn't find someone who'd work with me. I found some though, sisters. Nice pair, the older one's a beauty, but the younger one needs teh mature a bit 'fore I give her any thought at all. No doubt she's pretty but she's just a little girrl. And by little I mean little, only eight years old, I mean that's tiny.

"Her older sister is a beauty though, seventeen and got a body straight out of them old Greek stories." At this point a small metal box came flying over the curtain, striking Adam on the head and spewing q tips everywhere. Christian gave a hearty laugh and Brian shook his head. "Oww! That hurt!" He rubbed his head where the box had struck. "Meh, she's always like that, tough love and all. Oh yeah, have you ever been to Boston? Nice town, beautiful harbor and home to myself and my family. We're old money, us Bennetts, made our money in the railroad business back in Carnegie's time. My great-great granddad made a good deal with old Andrew and now we're living off the interest in the bank, our money makes our money.

"I'm the first member of our family to go out and look for a job in three generations, my dad grew up with servants to wipe his ass, but me, I didn't even let them in the room. My brother and sister would play with dolls and action figures and I'd be in the library playing with the fencing swords. I mean my entire family is meisters, not very good ones, and I'm the first to ever attend the Death Weapon Meister Academy, but my granddad was a meister, my dad was a meister, and I'm a meister."

He stopped talking and just sat there next to Christian with an eager look on his face. "You like to talk, don't you?"

Adam looked slightly offended before responding with. "What makes you think that?"

"Sorry, my brother has the social skills of a coyote." Brian interrupted. "He's great with ladies but other guys he just doesn't know how to interact."

"Don't say that, you make me sound like a player." Christian protested. "I pride myself a gentleman, I flirt with all women to make them feel good. Though I reserve myself for the right woman."

"Right woman?" Adam smirked. "Jeez, you sound like one of those chivalrous knights from princess movies. What you should do is sample, little here, little there. No harm in a little swinging, and take the best of the batch."

Christian looked extremely annoyed, scratch that, was extremely annoyed at this. "A woman that can be picked up and carried to bed is nothing but common trash." Christian glared at him. "Only the ones you have to fight a thousand battles for them to even notice you are worth having. Love is reserved for the ones who fight for it, those who walk the razor's edge to keep their woman happy."

Brian rolled his eyes, he had heard this speech before. Christian practiced the dead art of chivalry, naive to how the world worked now. It was true that he had a knack for women, but it never got past playful flirting. To his knowledge Christian had never even had a serious relationship, other than Ronda in high school that is. But Ronda made certain sexual advances and Christian ended it less than a week later. Brian on the other hand had frequently been in relationships, some more serious than others. Between Chanda Hudgens who lasted as far as her first kiss, and Alexis Fey who took Brian's innocence and everything in between. On matters of the heart Christian and Brian starkly disagreed. In short Christian is still a virgin and Brian is not.

Adam seemed very fascinated by this reaction. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean teh offend you." Adam readjusted himself in the metal chair. "Please tell me more about you, so I don't offend you in the future."

Christian sat back in the chair. "Sorry, I overreacted." He gave a sigh before speaking again. "I've given that speech a million times. My high school was filled to the brim with broads who threw their body at every muscle bound grease monkey they saw. Small town, it's too be expected at least, nothing to do but drugs and sex. I saw many of my best friends turn to fiends in the time span of a year."

"Wait, high school?" Adam asked. "You mean you two went teh public school?"

"Yes, we did. Our parents couldn't afford to send us too anywhere else." Brian explained. "We worked on our fifty acre farm, growing crops and cattle. Pretty much all the income we had."

"We never went wanting, we had full stomachs and nice clothes but anything extra we had to pay for." Christian smiled. "Mom was funny about this, she wanted us to be cultured. So she would scrape together some extra money and take us to see plays in the town north of us."

"Don't forget the concerts." Brian said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah." Christian smiled "We lived about twenty miles from a fine arts university. Every once in a while there would be a concert or ballet would perform for the community, free of charge. So every couple of weeks we'd go and see classical music concerts and these wonderful ballets and operas. We saw everything from the Nutcracker too Don Juan and heard from more composers than I ever thought existed." He stopped and wiped the single tear that was forming in his eye. "But that was a long time ago."

Adam cocked his head to the side, looking much like a puppy doing the same. "What was it like?"

Christian seemed confused at his question. "The music? It was amazing, performed by masters of the instruments."

Adam shook his head and waved his hands. "No, the school. High school, what was it like?" He looked at Brian with a slight sparkle in his eye. "I was privately tutored until I came here. I never had any chances teh go out with friends, or raise hell. I was silent at dinner parties and my only school friends were my siblings. I couldn't get in trouble, anything I did would reflect the family. I practically grew up in a prison."

Christian suddenly felt like he was choking on the feathers of the proverbial crow. It suddenly was painfully obvious as to the nature of the lengthy introduction. "I'm a dick." He whispered. He looked at Adam realizing only now how big of a crow he had consumed mere seconds before. "Look, I'm sorry about getting on your case."

"I see he's done with the sob story." Christian looked up to see a goddess standing next to the edge of the curtain. Auburn hair and hazel eyes, with a rounded face. The light hit her just right to make her hair seem aflame. She stood only a few inches shorter than Brian. "Why I'm your weapon is beyond me." She nodded in greeting to Brian then turned her head letting her shoulder length hair shimmer in the light. "I'm Diana." She said toward Christian. Diana wore a black, high cut tank top and a white jacket that covered her shoulders and extended down to the elbows. Her jeans extended past her knees and stopped just halfway down the shin. She quickly knelt down and slipped on a pair of red converse that Christian hadn't noticed she had been holding.

Brian smiled as he was treated to a good view of her toned butt beneath her jeans. While Christian, for the first time in his life, was speechless in the presence of a woman. "Amy Carson." Medusa's voice snapped Christian back from this blinding vision.

Christian watched as a small girl, a much younger version of Diana, hopped off her seat and ran behind the curtain. She wore a blue dress but that's the only description Christian would be able to give as she was gone before he even got a good look. She must have been hiding behind Adam while they were talking. Diana finished tying her shoe and promptly stood and took the seat Amy had occupied. "Sorry, she's a bit shy." Diana explained to no one in particular. With a sigh she reached into a bag sitting beside her and retrieved a copy of the Sonnets of William Shakespeare.

The next hour passed at an excruciatingly slow pace, even more so with the departure of Blackstar and Tsubaki. Followed inevitably by the departure of Adam and the Carson sisters. When at last Christian was called by Medusa he still could not stop thinking of the beauty that had sat two seats down.

She sent him away with a positive mark and a bottle of aspirin. Brian took even less time and the pair left the building. "I've seen that look before." Brian said seemingly out of the blue.

"What look?" Christian asked.

"Ronda."

The one word was enough. "Up yours!" Christian responded, admittedly this was a sore subject. Christian glanced at his watch and grimaced. "Already that late?"

"What?"

"It's already seven o'clock."

"So, let's grab something to eat and head back to our dorm. We still need to unpack." Brian said. "It was four when we got here anyway."

"Alright, I got forty bucks."

"Pretty much the same here."

Christian stuck his hands in his pockets and shuddered a bit as the first cold wind of the night blew through the tears in his shirt. "We're going to need to find jobs, but tonight we celebrate."

Two hours later the Davis brothers returned to their dorm. Brian immediately retired to bed, leaving Christian in the commons alone. He reached in his pocket and retrieved his pocket knife. He opened it and examined the blade, the engraving on the steel. The Chinese symbol for family, a gift. Eighth birthday, his first blade long before Brian even knew he had the ability.

Christian smiled and tossed the blade on the counter. It landed with a clatter and slid across the laminate tile before hitting the back plate on the wall. It stopped spinning with the blade resting at an angle to the attached handle. "No regrets." Christian said under his breath.


	4. Chapter 4

The days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. The brothers were accepted into the EAT class without question. Their fight with Blackstar had been observed by half the school staff so no one doubted their talent. Christian rose to be the sixth in his class while Brian was content to remain in the twenties. They befriended many students including; Maka Alborn and Soul Evans, of course Adam and the Carson sisters, one Kilik Rung and his twin spirits, thunder and fire. He also befriended an odd boy named Ox Ford and his weapon Harver Eclair, and a few others in his class.

He formed a rivalry with Blackstar and developed a losing record of five losses to three wins. Every other week they would meet in the park on campus and fight it out. Always the both of them would end up in the infirmary to be scolded by Medusa as she stitched their wounds.

They grew less homesick as time went on and Christian began meditating, as recommended by Lord Death, lessening the effects of his handicap. He would swell his soul to full size and stretch the chains as far as he could, and then stop before it hurt him. Brian got a job as a stocker at the local grocery store, a fitting job for him. Christian decided to become the librarian at the school's own library.

Then one day they received their first mission. The mission was a simple recon, arrive and investigate a series of murders in a desert town a couple hundred miles to the north of Death City. After arriving, and accessing the situation, they had permission to handle the situation accordingly.

Brian leapt down the last few steps to land on the ground a few feet from the dune buggy Christian had rented. Christian glanced up at Brian before giving a sigh and tossing him the keys. "We got a full tank of gas, try not to burn it all out before we get halfway there." Brian smiled and tossed his bag in a small box situated behind the bench seat. "And don't hit anything like last time."

"That rock came out of nowhere and you know it." Brian whined before turning the key in the ignition. The dune buggy roared to life, "Hehehe." Brian chattered as he revved the engine.

"Remember, we don't know what we're getting into." Christian said as he climbed into the passenger seat. "Just keep that in mind before you go blaring down the streets."

"Got it!" Brian gunned it, exchanging asphalt for sand in mere seconds. They ripped up the first dune and cleared the top by at least a foot before disappearing behind it. Dixie would have been extremely appropriate at this display.

Christian somehow fell asleep on the constantly rocking buggy. In reality he was meditating, letting his soul wax and wane in rhythm. The chains had grown extremely loose on his soul over the past four months, almost unrestrictive, almost. Despite the jarring of the dunes as Brian cut a new trail through the endless sea of sand, Christian kept his body calm and let his soul grow beyond his previous limit.

Suddenly he was falling and a jarring hit brought him back from his trance like state. "WO-HOO!" Brian screamed as the dune buggy crested the next hill. Christian reached over and gave him a hard tap on the head. "Ow! I'm driving here!" As he spoke a spray of sand caught him in the face and filled his mouth and nose with the itchy mineral. Christian laughed but was treated to the same experience seconds later.

Christian adjusted his goggles and attempted to meditate again. He tuned the roar of the buggy and the screams of Brian's delight. He could now sense his soul, feel every single crater and scar. It pulsed, in rhythm with his heart, and it fidgeted and jerked randomly. Then it grew calm, like it sensed that it was safe. Christian looked down and he noticed he now had an ethereal body. "Well this is different." He said to himself.

He took a step and watched as his body slid to respond. First his foot moved, followed by his ankle and on up the leg and up through the rest of his body, like a ribbon in the wind. He shook his head in disbelief and walked slowly, measuring each step, to his suspended soul. Christian stopped about a yard away and reached out and touched it. It shocked him, literally an electric shock that made his arm go numb.

He withdrew his arm and shook it, attempting to make it useful in contradiction to its now dead weight state. Christian reached again with his good arm and concentrated hard on the orb of pulsating energy before him. He closed his eyes and waited for the shock again. It never came. He spread his hand out and felt the gelatin like surface, coming across a scar he winced slightly as he felt pain in his chest.

He opened his eyes and witnessed as the chains moved tighter around his soul, silver in stark contrast to the dark blue orb. One touched him and he felt as though his hand had been shattered, the bones cracked and splintered inside. The shock of the pain brought him out of his trance to be met with another face full of sand. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled.

Brian, thinking he was complaining about the ride, laughed at his brother's pain. "Finally awake, eh?" Christian gave him a questioning look. "You've been asleep for three hours now, I had to fill up the gas tank and everything. You didn't even move."

Christian looked out to see that the sun had moved a considerable distance across the sky, from the eastern corner to the middle. "How much farther?" He yelled over the still roaring engine.

"About another hour and a half." Brian pointed behind him, at the box behind the seat. "I made a couple sandwiches, they're in my bag. Grab them will you?"

Christian turned around and opened the box. After a moment he picked out a paper bag and opened it up. Two sandwiches, roast beef, and two Capri suns. "Here." Christian put one of the sandwiches in his brother's outstretched hand.

The next hour of the journey passed in relative silence. They finished their respective meals and Christian tossed the waste back into the box. They reached dirt, spanning miles in every direction, except behind, where it was claimed by sand.

With twenty minutes left in their journey they saw their first building since Death City. It was a simple run down shack that may have once been a human settlement. With it came a paved road and Brian accepted the invitation without question. Christian looked back towards the shack, something was bothering him. "Drive faster." He yelled to Brian. Brian shrugged his shoulders before flooring the gas pedal and tearing down the faded blacktop.

They finally arrived in the oddly stereotypical town, like it was from an old western. It consisted of two lines of buildings, connected to each other by adjoining walls. The single road cut the town in half, giving the second to only sign that this was the twenty first century. Pickup trucks lined the road, four or five of them, parallel parked in front of buildings. At the end of the street stood an actual saloon with the customary swinging doors.

Christian turned around to find the police station looked as antique as the town. And no surprise that the marked car out front was an old Chevy pickup. "I'm pretty sure I've seen this place in an Eastwood movie." Brian said.

"No kidding." Christian reached in the glove box and retrieved the mission sheet. "I'm going to talk to the police. You start asking around town, if you can find anyone that is." Brian nodded and waited for Christian to exit before driving off down the lone street.

Christian watched him disappear behind the saloon before stepping through the open door. Only strengthening the stereotype, Christian found an old man with a sheriff badge sleeping in a chair with his feet resting on the desk. Christian shook his head in disbelief as he looked up and saw a man whom he assumed was the town drunk locked up in one of the three iron cages.

"Excuse me sir." Christian tapped the man's boots. He snorted and opened his eyes, and looked at Christian over his pale yellow walrus mustache. The sheriff took his boots off the desk and sat up, at this point Christian realized that his uniform was slightly to big. "What is it boy?" The sheriff asked.

Christian extended his hand. "My name is Christian Davis, I'm from the academy." The man gave what might have been a smile and took Christian's hand in a firm handshake. "My brother and I are here to investigate these murders." Christian handed the poster to the man.

The man took it and read over it. "Cobb." He said absently.

"Excuse me sir?"

"Sheriff Cobb, I'm the law around here." He looked up at Christian. "I'm grateful for you boys showing up, but my town my rules."

"State your terms, and we'll obey." Christian answered.

"Good." Cobb put the poster on the table. "There are two cops in the county, myself and Deputy Queen, whenever you find out something, you talk to us. Good people live here, I don't want you'ns causing any trouble, so no terrorizing them. Lastly, people round here ain't particularly fond of outsiders, so don't go poking your nose where it don't belong. You're liable to get a face full of buckshot." Cobb turned his head and spat over his shoulder. "Other than that, you're free to do all the investigating you want."

"Sounds fair, do you have any leads or anything you think would help us?" Christian asked.

Cobb reached into his desk and retrieved a thin manila folder. "Names, occupations, and homes of the victims. That's all we got."

Christian took the folder. "Thank you sheriff." He turned to the door and exited, "I'll get back to you when I have something." He called over his shoulder. Cobb watched him leave then turned to the man in the cell. "Hey!" He threw a pen off his desk. It arced through the air and struck the sleeping man on the head. "Get up you bum, its past noon!"

The man opened his eyes and sat up sluggishly, taking his time as he stretched and yawned. "Have they arrived, those academy kids I mean?"

The sheriff gave him a look before responding with a simple nod. "Just missed one of 'em. Not sure where the other is, usually come in pairs." Cobb scratched his throat. "Oh, that's right. That kid said somethin' bout his brother."

The man in the cell scratched his head, pulling his hand away to find a tuft of his own hair filling it. He looked up at the sheriff to find him looking at the door. "Cobb, I'm sober now lemme go home." Cobb turned back to him.

"Come on Nathan, I'm feeling better now." The man pleaded.

Cobb sighed before he stood up and grabbed the key off the hook. "No more whiskey after ten Benny." With a halfhearted toss he threw the keys through the bars. "I mean it, next time you'll be in here a week."

Benny bent over and grabbed the keys off the slit wood slats that served as the floor. "Be careful out there, killer on the loose." Cobb said as Benny unlocked the cell.

"So I hear." Benny took two steps before tossing the keys straight for the hook. Cobb shook his head in disbelief as the ring landed perfectly on the hook and swung back and forth. "Not bad for the drunk, six in a row."

"Grab your coat and get out, 'fore I change my mind."

"Thank ya kindly sheriff." Benny took his coat with a flick of his hand before exiting in a couple of strides.

Benny stepped into the street and watched the blue clad boy run across the street and turn into the general store. He took his coat and threw it over his shoulders, letting it rest there without his arms in the sleeves. He stood taller than professor Sidd, though not as muscular. His hair resembled a wet cat, black and dirty. His jeans were worn thin and had oil stains on the front and back pockets with a hole in the left knee. His dirty white t-shirt bore evidence of his last four meals. His thin lips formed a smile as Brian appeared down the street and entered the saloon.

"Oh, they'll work nicely." Benny's smile grew to reveal his jagged, carnivorous teeth.


	5. Chapter 5

Christian jogged across the dusty street, trading it in favor of the not much better sidewalk. He glanced up at his first stop, the general store. He entered the swinging doors and inhaled the smell of whiskey and sawdust. "Excuse me?" He called.

"Just a minute!" Replied a woman's voice, it came from the back of the store. Less audible, Christian heard the woman order someone around. Something in line of, "Andrew, go see who that is."

Moments later a tall, lanky man wearing a pair of overalls and a flannel shirt was produced by the back room. "What can I do fer ya?" The man, Andrew maybe, asked. Christian smiled at the man. "Nothin' much mister, I'm new in town and wanted to know if there's any rumors groin' round." He donned a flawless southern accent, which he had picked up from his youth in southern Tennessee.

Andrew looked him up and down, taking in the sandblasted clothes and sun kissed tan. He shrugged his shoulders and leaned over the counter. "There some talk 'bout people goin' missin'."

Christian feigned surprise. "No kiddin'?"

"Yep, ol' man Jerald sayin' it aliens." Andrew placed his hands on the counter. "Me, I'm not so sure. I mean why would aliens be pokin' round here anyhow."

Christian smiled internally. He knew this type, Mr. Carter back home was a spitting image. "Don't know, why wouldn't they?"

"We ain't exactly the cream of the crop. If you was gonna go abductin' some of us why would you be picking up some hillbilly bums?" Andrew shook his head. "Nah, if you ask me it's the government."

Christian tuned him out after that. Paranoid spook, he knew them well from growing up in a small town himself. He was polite and stayed in the room until the man was done with his rant. "Huh, really." Christian nodded intently before slowly stepping back toward the door. "Ya know, you might be onto somethin' there." Christian back kicked the door open and exited before Andrew could say anything else.

On up the street Brian stood just inside the saloon, or rather diner. The old wooden floors and oak walls gave the appearance of a bona fide western bar, only to disappoint with the image of rows of booth style tables on each side.

At the counter stood a woman, a very large woman, with her brown hair tied in a sloppy bun. She glanced up at Brian with green eyes almost hidden behind a chubby yet kind face. She wore a yellow t-shirt and a grease stained apron. "Come on in child." She called, and seeing it to be rude to refuse her, Brian walked to the counter and took a seat on one of the vacant stools.

Brian looked around and found that the place was full of run of the mill farmer types, full being five men besides himself. "What can I get ya." The woman asked with a smile. Brian smiled in response and answered. "Just a sweet tea ma'am." She disappeared through the door behind the counter. Brian guessed it lead straight to the kitchen.

He glanced around and caught one of the old men giving him a dirty look before turning back to his meal. Brian smiled, reminds me of Lottie's, he thought. Heavy footsteps foretold the woman's arrival as she came through the door holding an old mason jar and a pitcher of tea. "I don't reckon I've ever seen you round here."

"You'd be reckoning right ma'am." Brian donned his own accent. "Me and my brother are in town for a few days. Thought I'd come and see what this place had to offer."

"Well that's good to hear." She said. "Name's Willona, just gimme a holler if'n you get hungry now."

"Actually I was wonderin'." Brian said. "Have there been any rumors goin' round? I met some guy on the way in, talkin' bout some folk goin missing." He smiled as he heard the table and chairs behind him creak slightly as the men stood up.

"Now who's been sayin' that garbage?" Brian took a sip of his tea and waited. "Probably that Murphy boy goin' round spreadin' hogwash."

"I don't know Ezra." A new voice chimed in. "I mean my cattle ain't been milking right lately. Plus nobody's seen the Barnes since Tuesdee."

"He's right Ezra." Yet another voice. "Murphy maybe no good, but that don't change the fact that nobody seen Philip since he went up to that old shack on the highway."

"Bah!" Ezra called. "If anybody no good round here it's Murphy an' that damn drunk."

"Benny ain't done nothin'." A new voice, younger. "So what he has a drinkin' problem? You would too if you been through the hell he's seen."

"Oh boo-hoo!" Ezra. "'My dad died when my house burned down.' Damn geht probably burned it down himself."

"Ezra!" Willona yelled. "That poor boy's been through enough, there ain't no need of you sayin' things like that."

"Kids these days are too soft, they break too easy." Ezra explained. "I saw my pappy get his arm eat off by the wood chipper. That didn't stop him. Hell, he just poured whiskey on it and wrapped his shirt round the stump."

Brian sensed this was going off topic and decided to give it a gentle nudge back in the right direction. "Who's this Murphy guy?" He asked over his shoulder.

"He's a no good liar and thief." Ezra answered.

"Here here." Called voice two.

"That's goin a little far boys." Willona said. "Sure Murphy ran off with them horses but I'm sure he had a good reason."

"Ain't no good reason for theivin' Willona!" Ezra yelled.

Brian stood up. "How much do I owe you?" He asked. Ezra continued his rant as Brian paid Willona and downed the rest of his tea. "Thank you."

"Don't you want anything else?" She asked. They ignored the conversation going on behind Brian. Brian shook his head. "I got all I came for, thanks." Brian turned and went straight to the door. He spared one last ear as he left, "In the old days we'd just hang thieves!" followed quickly by an exclaimed "Ezra!" Brian exited the saloon.

Christian gave Brian a look as he left the saloon, which was answered by a thumbs up sign. Christian shook his head and sighed, his brother was usually better with people and that definitely showed just now. Christian jogged the distance of the road to his brother. "Find anything?" He asked.

"Yep, the diner here might as well be Lottie's back home." Brian started. "Turns out there's a drunk nobody likes, and a horse thief."

"Diner?"

"They renovated the old saloon. Anyway, I suggest we find this Benny guy, at the very least ask him a few questions. They also mentioned that shack that gave you the creeps, so there's that." Brian continued.

"The shack on the highway?" Christian asked.

Brian nodded. "The man in there said one of the people went up there and never came back. Might be worth a look."

"Sounds good." Christian agreed.

"Did you find anything?"

"Talked to the sheriff, seems like there's only two of them for the entire county."

"Well that's helpful." Brian said, sarcasm tainting his speech.

"I know, but I did get a file on the victims." Christian opened the folder. "Missing or murdered they're in here." He thumbed through the pages of pictures and information. "There's a lot in here, and we can only assume the kishin egg is feasting on them, I count at least twenty."

"Damn, how many does it take to become the full-fledged version?" Brian asked.

"I don't think there's a specific number but I'm sure it closer to the hundreds." Answered Christian. "This would be easier if I could see souls." He grimaced, mad at himself for his own incompetence.

"You'll be able to soon, not even Maka can see them yet." Brian comforted. "Hell, she's going after that woman killer contract right now. That'll be ninety-nine for her and she still can't see souls yet."

Christian smiled. "Yeah you're right. Let's just find this bastard and head home."

"That's more like it." Brian smiled. He wouldn't say it but he is worried about Christian. He's been pushing himself too hard lately, he's in the infirmary more than he's home now a days. To top it off he's been practicing with staffs and honing his hand to hand techniques. Christian has a different look in his eyes lately, more determined. It's going to get him hurt.

Benny stood at the far end of the street concealed by the shadow of an alley. Without a word he reached in his pocket and took out his phone. Then sent out a group text. "Tonight's the night." He glanced up as he pressed the send button. He watched Christian and Brian walk around the corner of the building and come back in the dune buggy as they drove off towards the shack. "Scurry scurry little mice, cause the cats are comin'." He cackled.

Twenty minutes later they pulled into the dirt driveway of the rundown shack. "This place has seen better days." Brian commented as he stepped out of the buggy. He was right, the place looked like it had been abandoned for decades. The wood was rotted and dirty beyond all reason, barely recognizable as wood actually. It resembled charcoal and was splintered more than one would think. The nonexistent roof but was simple supports that might hold a bird's nest, emphasis on might, and the single window had been shot out and had the bodies of several hundred beer bottles around it.

Christian exited the buggy and slowly walked to the doorway of the shambled shack. Brian stepped behind him, watching each step intently, waiting for something to happen. "Careful Christian." He said.

"The house has rotted through. Nobody's lived here for decades, couldn't have." Christian gave the door frame a light kick which immediately exploded from just the tap. He stepped through the door and looked around. "Step carefully Brian, floors rotted too."

They picked through the rot on the floor for about an hour before deciding there was nothing to see. They turned almost in unison and exited the building. "So much for that theory." Brian said rather condescendingly. Christian grunted in agreement shaking his head he lead the way out the door and consequently the first one to hear the unmistakable sound of a pump action shotgun chambering a shell. "Now don't neither of ya move!" A man yelled with a very thick country accent.

Christian out his hands up as he came face to barrel with a very intimidating Remington. "Why ya here, hmm?" The man asked. He turned the gun to Brian as he exited. "I said don't move dammit!"

"Calm down friend." Christian said. "We're new in town, we didn't know it was private property." Christian's mind was racing, but something didn't feel right, still he tried his hardest to think of a lie. He ended up deciding the truth was the best bet. "We're from the academy."

"Academy?" The man asked still keeping the gun on Brian. "What academy?"

"The DWMA, I'm a weapon, this guy is a miester." Almost the truth, Christian suddenly felt like the air was filled with static. Something is seriously wrong, but what is it.

"Oh, so you'ns from that academy." The man smiled. "Benny said some of you would show up." Everything suddenly made sense. Christian measured the distance, about ten yards, less than two seconds. The shotgun was pump action, it would take him a second to be ready to fire again. Please be fast enough Brian.

Christian feigned ignorance, "Whose Benny?"

"The town drunk." Brian answered, he too had measured the situation. Different they may be, when it came to strategy they were one and the same. "Some lowlife that nobody likes."

"That's where yer wrong boy!" The man laughed. "Benny's gonna make us here real important, gonna make us immortal." As he said this he moved his finger to the trigger. "An' Benny said to waste the mister when he show up."

"Meister." Brian corrected with a smile.

"I hate you learned folk anyway." The man smiled much wider now, revealing carnivorous teeth. Boom!

Brian immediately assumed his weapon form and took the buck shot, other than denting his blade a bit it left no physical damage. Christian on the other hand moved faster than sound and condensed the ten yard space to mere feet before the man had even recovered from the recoil. Christian grabbed the gun as he brought the pump back, with hand on barrel and butt.

Suddenly Christian was back in the park training with that bamboo staff he had grown accustomed to. Christian smiled in the real world and, with practiced ease, wrenched the shotgun in a clockwise motion and tore it from the man's grasp. The shock hadn't even worn off by the time Christian flipped the butt and smacked the man across the temple with it. With a practiced flourish he spun the barrel to face the man and stood on his chest.

"Now I'm going to ask a few questions, and you better answer me." Christian chambered a new round and smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you for all your continued support, here is the next chapter and to your reading delight it is mostly fight scenes. Enjoy._

Chapter 6

Christian held the Remington aimed at the man's face, finger resting on the trigger. "Brian, you okay?" He called over his shoulder. "Yeah, but I'm going to get a bruise from that." Came an annoyed reply.

"The hell?" The man protested. "I thought you was the weapon!"

Christian shrugged his shoulders. "I lied." Christian tightened his grip on the gun. "Now let's be polite. My name's Christian, what's yours?"

"Fuck yew." The man spat.

Christian sighed and stepped off the man's chest before plugging the barrel in the man's right knee and pulled the trigger. "Ahhhhh!" He screamed and convulsed and thrashed in pain as his knee spurted copious amounts of blood around the area. "Now, mister Yew, do we have an understanding?" Christian chambered the next shell.

The man spat again in response. "Why mister Yew, I don't think you quite understand the situation you're in." Christian gestured to the gun, the same model that rested over the doorway at home. "This is a Remington 870 express, and if I remember correctly, it holds four shells." Christian plugged the gun in the second knee. "That means I have two shots left, and you have one more knee." Christian smiled and moved the barrel to rest over the man's crotch. "That leaves one more wasted shell, oh well I guess I could perform a sex change while I'm out here."

The man glared at Christian, trying to figure whether he was bluffing or not. It then occurred to him that he was now an amputee and he came to his senses. "Philip, Philip Johnson." He said through clenched teeth.

"Now was that so hard?" Christian moved the gun back to Philip's knee. "Now, first real question. There is obviously more to this than just you, how many are involved?" Philip glared at Christian, his eyes taking a rather red hue in contrast to his original green. His teeth seemed to grow bigger and sharper as he slowly smiled at Christian. "There're four of us, an' only two of you." Christian rolled his eyes and pulled the trigger again.

"AHHHH! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He screamed in pain as he thrashed violently. Christian glanced at Brian who stood with his arms crossed, shaking his head. Christian shrugged his shoulders and once again pointed the gun at the man, aiming for his crotch. "You're in no place to make threats mister Johnson, so stick to just answers please."

"Who are your partners?" Christian chambered the last shell. "Tick Tock kishin."

Philip watched as Christian moved his finger to the trigger. "I ain't talkin' no more." He smiled so wide his jaw came unhinged. "I'll just ask for the biggest part of your soul when it comes time to eat ya." Christian pulled the trigger and tossed the shotgun away. "YOU SON OF A BITCH, BENNY'LL GET YOU! I'LL ENJOY EATING YOUR SOUL!"

"Brian, please silence him." Christian said as he walked to the buggy. Brian turned his forearms too blades and silenced the man with one swift strike to the neck. Christian turned and watched as the soul of the kishin floated lazily in the air. "So that's what it looks like."

Brian shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the floating orb with his right hand. "So what now? Do I just eat it?"

"Yeah, no ritual or anything just eat it." Christian sat in the driver's seat. "Hurry, we need to tell the sheriff what we found, and warn him about the others."

Brian gulped down the soul and made a face. "Pretty good, but not what I was expecting." He shuttered as he walked to the buggy. "Reminds me of jello, but the flavor, I can't explain it." Brian reached in his pocket and produced the keys. "Here." He gave the keys an underhanded toss and watched Christian stick his hand through the roof to catch it.

"Get in." Christian turned the key in the ignition. Brian jumped over the hood and let his body fall through the roll bar as he took his seat. Christian shook his head and turned the wheel as he backed out of the driveway. No sooner had he found pavement that he threw it into drive and gunned it down the street. "He was a newborn." Christian said to Brian.

"What do you mean?" Brian asked.

"Maybe two or three souls, he had just now become a kishin egg. Benny, whoever he is, is promising people immortality in return for loyalty." Christian frowned at the thought. "We can only assume that the other two are like Philip, and Benny is much more powerful."

"I'll pretend to understand that." Brian responded. "Just hurry, I don't want to be out here with the sun down." The sun had already made its way down in the sky, strange for this time of year. Christian glanced at his watch and discovered it was only half past four. "Gets dark early around here."

Christian floored the gas pedal and watched as the speedometer maxed out. The feeling was back, something was wrong, oh so very wrong. They drove in almost silence for the next few miles until they could see buildings. "Get ready for a fight." Christian said over the roar of the engine. Brian gave him a questionable look before opening his mouth. Then a gunshot was heard from the town's general direction and Brian shut his mouth.

Christian slammed on the brakes and brought the buggy to a stop about twenty yards from the first turn into town. "Weapon form, now." Brian assumed his glaive form and Christian snatched him out of the seat. Christian turned and ran straight for the street corner and followed the sidewalk to the main street.

What he saw disturbed him. Benny stood parading in the street, dancing around a face down Cobb with a hole through his chest. Benny's arm was covered in blood and he held the sheriff's still pulsing soul. His head suddenly snapped toward Christian, almost one hundred and eighty degrees. "Oh, Meister!" He called in a shrill voice. "Come and play my game!"

A chill gripped Christian's spine as the man's body rotated to match his head. His smile grew impossibly wide, to the point where the jaw unhinged. This was not the same man Christian had seen in the jail cell. Benny swallowed the soul whole and turned back to Christian and Brian. "Come, come and join the town's folk in my belly."

A sudden realization hit Christian, there was no screaming, no people, only blood trails leading from the doorway of each building. Fear was replaced with anger, anger at himself for not being here to stop him from killing all those people. "Damn you!" He yelled.

"Damn, damn, damn that's all you can say? That's all any of them could say, but at least they paired it with drunkard, deadbeat, and more recently demon!" Benny laughed a high and shrill laugh. "But all you can pair it with is you. Come now be creative, say something else, something original!"

Christian remembered the textbook talking about this. "Those who follow the path of a kishin are subject to losing their minds." He whispered. He took a stance and began sidestepping into the street. "Benny, you have committed crimes against humanity and against Lord Death. The punishment, is death. Surrender yourself and your accomplices, and I'll kill you quickly!" He swung the glaive out wide and assumed a fighting stance.

"Hehehehehe." Benny began laughing softly. "Hehahahahhahahaha, ha ha ha ha!" Then took a more insane form. "Heheh, you can't kill me, haha. I'm immortal now, See!" Benny bent over and grabbed the revolver off of Cobb's lifeless corpse. With a flick of the wrist he turned it and shot himself directly in the temple. "HAHAHAHA!" His mouth blared laughter as the wall beside him was splattered with bone and gray matter.

Christian watched in awe struck contempt as the wound healed itself. "Neat trick." Christian said sarcastically. "But hardly surprising." Christian charged the man, closing the twenty yard distance in seconds. Benny smiled wide and hissed as he barely dodged the blade of the glaive.

Christian spun on the spot and extended to his full nine foot reach. He felt resistance and smiled as he turned to see Benny bleeding from his arm. Benny smiled in response and held the arm up to show, no healing whatsoever. Realizing this, Benny let loose another shrill shriek and ran for the saloon. "Now meister, there is no reason to be rash!" He screamed as he busted through the door.

Christian followed him through the doors and met a grisly sight. Blood covered the walls, with giblets clinging in spots. Unidentifiable remains lay on the floors, filling the air with the putrid smell of iron. Brian decided not to ponder on the identity of the various bodies as Christian vaulted the counter and chased after Benny. "Kill the bastard." Brian whispered as Christian passed over the only remains large enough to be Willona.

Benny kicked the back door clear off his hinges and ran into the parking lot behind the diner. "Hope you like dogs, meister! Ahaha!" Christian sprinted through the door and got within striking distance when he was suddenly tackled by a rather large coyote. "HAHAHAHA!" Benny stopped running and watched, roaring with laughter, as the seven foot tall coyote pinned Christian below its massive paws.

Christian barely managed to get Brian in the dog's teeth before it would've ripped his face clean off. It snarled as it worried into the staff of the glaive, drooling white foam onto Christian's face and chest. His muscles burned as he fought the dog, screamed in protest as the glaive was being pried from his hand. Suddenly a fire lit in Christian's eye and he pulled himself to be face to face with the wild creature, and bit its fleshy nose.

The coyote let loose a surprised yelp and released Brian. Now free from the dog's mouth, Christian bashed the coyote in its now bleeding nose before rolling free of its great feet. He stood to his own feet and spat out the chunk of nose he had bitten off. Benny let loose a gleeful laugh and clapped like a mental patient. "Yay! A show!"

Christian began twirling the glaive. "Big or small, a dog's just a dog." They began circling each other, like two wolves staking each other out. The coyote would snarl and growl, and Christian would reply with another step closer. Christian felt his soul growing, let it grow to his limits. "Let's dance Wiley." He said with a smile.

He kicked off with his back foot and charged at the coyote, the giant dog replied in kind. Christian swung his blade and met the canines shoulder, and took the full hit of the charging dog. They rolled to the ground and fought in an impossible grapple, both fighting like a couple of demons. A spurt of blood came from the rolling and writhing ball of human and demon. They continued to fight, neither gaining ground until a cry of agony went up from the hellhound. The dog pried itself from Christian and limped on three legs to the edge of the parking lot.

Christian stood slowly to his feet, babying his left ankle, his right shoulder was ripped open with claw marks, blood running down his arm. Christian stood eyeing the dog. "Let's not do that again." He scoffed. Then he noticed something, the leg that had been ripped off was turning. Changing into a human leg, a right human leg. "So, that's it is it?" Christian smiled again. "I see number three is a little stronger than the others."

The kishin egg snarled at Christian, baring its teeth. Christian met its glare and started walking towards it. "Very interesting." He said. "A shape shifting egg, but where did he get his power?" Christian snapped his head to Benny. "How many people have you killed today?"

Benny clapped his hands. "Oh, everyone my friend. Hehe, even the little kiddies on the school bus. Hehe, one hundred twenty souls, haha, and more." Benny began rocking back and forth, laughing. Christian turned back to the coyote and let loose a roar of pure rage as he charged it once again, the kishin hesitated before charging as well.

Though they met the same way, the results were very much different. The coyote took the hit on the shoulder again, but instead of continuing the charge. The thing exploded, the glaive ripping a huge, jagged cut through the hound. Christian sent another soul pulse through the blade, ripping through the remaining meat and fur like paper. Christian let the dog fall and watched as it shrank, turning into a man whom Christian did not recognize. The soul remained floating above the ground. Christian turned to Benny and raised Brian against him.

"I'll kill you now Benny, and Brian will take your soul." Christian whispered. Benny smiled and clapped like a madman once again. "I don't care how strong you've become, I will kill you for the sake of the people who once lived here."


	7. Chapter 7

_As this short arc draws to a close I give you one more fight scene, the final showdown between Benny and the Davis brothers_

Chapter 7

"YEAYEAYAYE, Hooray!" Benny cheered. "You'll play my game then, oh happy day!" Suddenly Benny charged at Christian, faster than anything he's seen in his life. "My game is fun isn't it!?" The force of the hit threw Christian back through the shattered door and back into the diner. He hit the linoleum floor inside and slid on the blood trail before slamming into the back of the grill.

Christian gasped, trying to force air back into his lungs. Suddenly a hand was around his throat and picked him off the floor. Benny's mouth hung open, baring his two rows of razor sharp teeth. Christian found himself paralyzed by fear. "Snap out of it Christian!" Brian screamed.

Benny let his long tongue snake out and began licking Christian's blue tinged cheek. In a flash Christian lashed out and bit the tongue as hard as he could. Then in the moments surprise he dropped Brian and used a double soul tap on Benny's chest. Benny cried out in pain and loosened his grip on Christian's throat, just enough for him wriggle loose of the kishin's grasp.

Benny let loose a shriek and leaped at Christian. Christian dropped to the floor and watched as Benny stuck to the wall, looking like the girl out of the exorcist. Then just to complete the image his head turned one hundred and eighty degrees and began laughing hysterically. Christian scrambled to Brian and snatched him up just in time to block the potentially fatal hit that sent him flying across the room. "Oh what fun!" Benny yelled.

Christian jumped to his feet and winced at the pain in his ankle. "I need to get out of here, I can't swing." He said to Brian. He leveled he glaive at the demon now crouched over the blood stained counter. "Any ideas?" Benny began waving back and forth, letting his body sway in place.

"Get to the dining room, its more open but will keep him from being able to get up to speed." Brian replied. "Hopefully."

Suddenly Benny leaped at Christian again and tackled him to the ground. He grabbed Christians head and began bashing it on the floor. Christian was able to reverse him and flipped him over his body. "Hahahah!" Benny screamed with laughter now. "Now the meister can't be too feisty, no we can't have that." With this he reached down to the bloody floor and retrieved a kitchen knife. "Your number's up meister!"

He charged again with a scream. Christian held firm and parried the knife easily enough and caught Benny in the chest with his staff. Then used his body as a fulcrum and picked Benny up and over his head. In this modified suplux Christian turned and threw Benny into the fryers. A clattering crash filled the air as Benny's body made contact with the metal. He stood up only to be impaled through the chest by Brian's two foot blade. Christian missed his intended target and consequently didn't kill him outright. Benny let loose a shriek of agony as Christian twisted the blade.

Benny grabbed the staff and began pulling his body along it, getting closer to Christian. Christian sent a pulse through the glaive and pulled it out of Benny's thrashing reach. Then flipped the the weapon and butted Benny as he ran at him, waving the knife. Christian slammed the butt of the glaive into the open wound in Benny's chest, forcing him back to the fryer and smiled as the evil idea occurred to him. Christian used his glaive as a lever and forced Benny's chest and head into the boiling oil.

He did not like this, and immediately began convulsing in pain stricken panic as the oil burned him. Liquid muffled screams escaped the boiling fluid, screams of agony. Benny lashed out with the knife and caught Christian in the ribs, leaving a deep cut that bared the bone. Had it been a stab wound Christian might have been in trouble, but he lucked out as it was just a cut. He stabbed again, now knowing exactly where Christian was Benny placed a well-aimed hit on Christian's gut. Christian grimaced as the blade struck his rib and exclaimed as the next strike found itself buried between his lower two ribs and cut reasonably deep into his diaphragm.

Christian gave a yell of pain as he released and retreated into the diner itself. He looked down to the knife sticking out of his gut and decided it was better to leave the seven inch blade in place at the moment. Christian leaped over the counter and landed on the closest table, feeling the pain his gut subside as adrenaline kicked in. "I need to kill this bastard fast." Almost on cue the demon stepped through the door, face and shoulders covered in third degree burns with his hair still boiling with the leftover oil. Benny opened his mouth wide enough to unhinge his jaw once again, resulting in the broken skin peeling away on his cheeks and leaving bright red streaks down the rips. "This is not fun anymore." Benny whined as he sprang into the air.

Christian swung hard with his glaive, catching Benny under the shoulder with the part just beneath the blade and slammed him into the nearby booth, breaking the table. He immediately released a barrage of stabs and got three nice hits on Benny, hits that would have been fatal on a human. With the fourth stab Benny spun on the ground to lay on his back and caught the blade in a death grip. Christian's reaction to this was to pick him up and throw him back over the counter.

A wet slap and breaking glass signaled his landing and a shriek briefly announced his arrival back to Christian's field of vision. "I have had it with you meister!" Insanity was replaced with anger as he screamed at Christian. With a mighty leap he flung himself into the air and grabbed onto the ceiling then leaped into the booth just behind and to the left of Christian.

With milliseconds to spare Christian spun Brian behind him and blocked the kishin's next jump. However the force of the hit knocked the table over and flung Christian onto the ground, knocking another inch of the blade deeper into Christian's ribcage. "Gahh!" Christian exclaimed in pain as he bounced and rolled across the blood soaked floor.

No longer did manic laughter fill the air, only the feeling of killing intent that comes from hate driven by insanity. Christian scrambled to his feet as Benny's twitching body did the same. "Calm down Christian, just wait for him." Brian's voice pierced Christian's mind and thoughts. "Concentrate, wait for him to jump then swing."

Christian turned and saw him jump once more, taking the air with out stretched arms and open hands. Christian sent a pulse through his blade and swung in a shallow arc. Blood filled the air as Christian sidestepped and gave a joyous laugh as Benny's legs crashed to the ground. Benny landed, now half the man he once was with his legs cut off on a slanted, clean cut that went from the top of his right shin and ended half way up his left thigh.

Benny gave a shrill scream of pain that would never be considered human and began scrambling over the overturned tables as he ran from Christian. "Leave me! Leave me be!" He screamed. Christian gave chase as he moved back through the kitchen and out into the parking lot once again. He reached the door and continued scampering away, leaving a bleeding trail behind him on the blacktop. "Help! Help me! Get away from meeeee!" He screamed.

Christian reached and flipped him with a toss of his blade then walked over and let the glaive rest on Benny's throat. He stopped fighting and stared at Christian with pleading, bloodshot eyes. "Burn in hell you bastard." Christian raised the blade high as he readied the finishing blow. Boom!

Christian spun as the gunshot rang out, taking the hit in the shoulder. He hit the ground and cried out in pain. "What the hell!" He grasped his shoulder as the blood came gushing out. Christian sat up to see the man who shot him was none other than an officer of the law. "Stay down son!" He yelled as he ran over. "Benny! What da hell did they do to you?"

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Christian roared. He reached for Brian, whom he had dropped upon being shot, but stopped when the officer's gun was pointed at his head. "He killed everyone, he needs to die!" He yelled, pleaded as the gun was leveled at his brow.

"What should I do Benny?" The officer smiled, revealing razor sharp teeth. Christian's eyes widened as the realization hit. I screwed up, he thought. "Kill him." Benny gasped.

The next second was slow motion to Christian as the trigger was squeezed and the hammer fell. Suddenly an arm shot up, turning into a blade on the way as it sliced straight through the wrist. Fire erupted from the chamber as the gun fired the round that was severely off target as the severed hand dropped, clipping Christian's cheek as it spun through the air.

Time began running closer to normal speed as Brian broke away and tackled the kishin as he screamed in panic. Christian reached for his gut and pulled the knife out with a cry of pain. Without missing a beat grabbed the wounded officer and planted the long knife into the man's jaw pumping as much soul energy as he could through the seven inch blade. Christian's smile returned as the blade broke off, stuck in the man's skull. His smile only grew wider as he heard Benny's last terror filled scream.

"Thanks Brian." Christian wheezed. "I thought I was dead." With these words Christian grimaced as the pain returned to him in a crashing wave. "Son of a bitch this hurts." He gripped his shoulder and looked back toward the diner. "Eat those souls and follow me, we need to stop the bleeding."

Minutes later Christian was standing on the sales floor of the local general store, face to face with a rather cross women holding a shotgun. "What the hell is going on out there?" She asked. She was small, tiny even with her dirty blonde hair tied in a shambled bun. Her jeans were covered in oil and blood stains, and the same could be said for her hands. Christian put one hand up, keeping the other on the wadded up shirt that he now held against his shoulder.

"It's okay, I'm Christian I stopped the bastard." Christian fought madly against the light headedness that was slowly taking hold. "I'm bleeding pretty badly, I need help and the danger is gone. I'm a good guy."

Something in Christian's voice convinced her that he posed no more threat than anyone else that she served on a regular basis. "Come here and lay down on the counter." She lowered the gun and pointed at the nearby counter. "I'll go get the first aid kit." With this she retreated back into the back room. About this time Brian came walking through the door.

"I used the phone at the diner, ambulances and state troopers are on the way." Brian explained. Christian nodded and realized he was starting to get cold. "Shit, we're going to have to work fast." Brian began checking over his brother. "This shoulder isn't that bad, some alcohol and a bandage and you'll be fine. But this stab wound, its deep but if you're not having trouble breathing you'll be fine if we can stop the bleeding. Are you in pain?"

If looks could kill Christian just committed genocide with the look he gave Brian. "Now who are you?" Brian turned to see the same barrel his brother had been looking down. "Its fine, he's with me." Christian said. The woman lowered her gun again and dropped it on a stool standing behind the counter.

"Thank you." Brian turned back to Christian and picked up the wadded shirt he had stuffed into the wound. "I was afraid of that, the bullet nicked the artery. First and foremost we'll need gloves and a pair of tweezers, some whiskey if you have it, and a lighter." Brian took the first aid kit and began going through it. "And a tampon!" He yelled at the woman as she left to retrieve the requested items.

"Tampon?" Christian asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"Yep, just stick it in the bullet hole. Stops the bleeding." Brian explained.

The woman returned sporting everything Brian had asked for. He took the whiskey bottle and opened it up. "Here buddy, you're going to need this." With these words he poured about a quarter of the Jack Daniels down Christian's throat. It burned like fire in his mouth and throat, but Christian enjoyed the numbing effect it had soon after. Brian put on the gloves and took the tweezers in hand, holding the lit lighter under them. "What's your name lady?" He asked to lighten the mood. She seemed taken by surprise by this. "Loretta, Loretta Jenkins." She replied.

"Well miss Jenkins, thank you for helping my idiot brother." Brian smiled.

"Stop flirting and get the damn bullet out!" Christian yelled.


	8. Chapter 8

_I hope you're ready for feels. _

_Thank you for your support through this arc and thank you in advance for your support in the future. Comment what you think should happen next and I'll let you know if you're right._

Chapter 8

Hours passed and Christian found himself in the back of a rural area ambulance. He grimaced as they changed it he bandages that Brian had put on him merely two hours ago. "Who stitched you up boy?" The paramedic asked with a worrying southern accent.

"My brother." Christian replied. "He always took care of the animals when they got hurt. I don't know how he learned it all."

The medic took the bloody tampon out of Christian's shoulder and shook his head. "I'm surprised, most people don't know that little trick." Christian didn't react to it, the morphine he had been given was working nicely. "Yessir, your brother knows what he's doin'. I'll put a pressure bandage on it then you can go home." The medic worked tirelessly replacing bandages before finally standing to his feet and standing up. "One question before I leave."

"Hmm?" Christian asked.

"What the hell happened here?"

Christian smiled and rubbed his head. "Y'know, I'm not too sure myself." Christian watched the man leave. Then reached into his pocket and produced a bloody finger. "Dammit." He reached into his pocket more carefully and retrieved three pieces of a broken mirror. "Must've broken in the fight with that damn hell hound." He tossed away the two smaller pieces and held the biggest piece in his palm. Christian found a sharpie sitting on the counter of the ambulance and wrote the number on the broken mirror. 42-42-564.

"Hello, hello Mr. Davis!" The picture of Death's mask filled the mirror, replacing Christian's tired mug. "Did you make contact with the kishin egg?"

Christian smiled. "Yeah, you could say that." His smile disappeared and was even replaced by a frown. "Why the hell was this considered an easy mission? There were four kishin eggs, how did you not know about them?"

"Four?" Death cocked his neck. "Do you require reinforcements?"

"No sir, but had I known the enemy was so strong I would've come better prepared." Christian's voice began to take a rather cross tone. "I thought you knew what you were sending us into."

"If you remember correctly Mr. Davis, the assignment was a reconnaissance mission." Death waved a finger Christian. "You were to make contact and then relay information back to me. Not to take the fight all by yourselves."

Christian's frown disappeared as an annoyed look claimed it. "We didn't have a chance sir, we were engaged by one of them as they took us by surprise."

"In the future you may want to train on your awareness."

"Is that Lord Death?" Brian's voice claimed Christian's attention. "If it is say hi for me, oh and apologize for the arch I broke last time."

"Arch?" Death asked.

"Oh nothing, if you haven't noticed by now it's not that noticeable." Brian took the mirror from Christian. "We're about to head back to Death City."

"Nope, we're staying the night to make sure we got them all." Christian interceded.

"Never mind, we're staying the night to make sure we got them all." Brian repeated.

"That won't be necessary young Davis." Death said. "We'll send someone up there to help with the cleanup. You just come on home."

"No offense Lord Death, but there is a school bus around the corner covered with the blood and body parts of forty children, forgive me if I want to make sure that the bastards are done for." Christian interrupted. "I owe the survivors that much."

Death stood motionless for a moment before nodding his head. "I'll inform your employers that you'll be getting home late."

"Thank you Lord Death." Christian said as he took the mirror. "We'll see you tomorrow." As he reached with his thumb to erase the marker on the mirror a crashing could be heard on the other end. "WHAT THE HELL!" Spirit's confused scream of pain was the last thing Christian heard as the mirror became a mirror once again.

"That would have been the arch." Brian whispered through clenched teeth.

Christian shook his head. "You're an idiot." With this he glanced at his watch, "That late already?" Christian reached in his other pocket and tossed Brian the keys. "Grab the buggy and go fill her up with gas, the spares too."

Brian's face lit up as he ran down the street and around the corner. Loretta appeared in Christian's field of vision as the sound of the loud engine and squealing tires signaled Brian's departure. "How's your brother?" Christian asked.

Loretta looked down and kicked a rock on the road. "About as bad as he looks, Greg says he might have a chance if they get him to Providence memorial." Loretta sat down on the step leading into the back doors. "They said they called a chopper but it's going to take a while." A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey he'll be fine." Christian comforted. "He's got a chance at least, thanks to you."

Loretta smiled slightly, "Your brother helped you know." She said and looked at Christian. "After we got done with you he ran back to the back and stitched Andrew up using a needle and some fishing line."

"Sounds like him." Christian scoffed.

Loretta gave a genuine smile now. "He's not very shy is he?"

"Not since I've known him." Christian replied.

"He kept the mood so light, kept on flirting with me the entire time." Loretta gave a chuckle. "Thank you, both of you, if you hadn't stopped that bastard when you did there might not have been any survivors."

Christian half smiled at this. "Had I realized it sooner there would've been more."

"No, don't beat yourself up." Loretta said. "Nobody thought Benny would hurt anyone. We thought he was just a drunk, harmless."

"Really?" Christian asked. "Maybe you can shed some light on the subject for me. What might have caused him to want to be immortal?"

Loretta shook her head. "We grew up together, went to high school together. He had a bit of a crush on me junior year but that was almost ten years ago. We went our separate ways, I inherited the shop when my father died from a snake bite, and every once in a while Benny would come in and buy a bottle of liquor." She took a breath. "That's all I ever saw of him."

A sudden charge of paramedics and police officers drew both of their attentions. "We got a live one!" One man yelled from the bus. Christian turned his gaze as they carried the small, blood covered, and unconscious girl around the corner. Young with her blonde hair dyed red from her classmates around her.

A paramedic began vomiting as he came out of the saloon. "Benny, that bastard deserved every bit of what he got." Loretta whispered. The paramedic who had vomited shook his head and went back in, the search for survivors of paramount importance. "I should help look." Loretta stood.

"No, you'll just get in the way." Christian said without looking at her. "Just let these men do their jobs."

"But, with more people they'll find them faster." She argued.

"No, they already have thirty trained men looking." Christian countered. He looked up at her, pain in his eyes. "We just need to let them find the survivors."

Loretta nodded and sat down next to Christian. They sat for the next hour listening to the running footsteps whenever they found someone. They brought the little girl to the ambulance and sat her next to the bed, she was conscious now but wouldn't speak a word. Loretta took her in her lap and embraced her as she began to cry. Loretta put the girl's head on her breast as she wept silently. "Shh, shh it's okay." She said.

Christian smiled weakly. "Do you have children?" He asked.

Loretta shook her head. "No."

Christian nodded. "You'll be a good mother one day."

"Thanks." Loretta started to rock back and forth as she began to hum a lullaby. Christian watched her, a twinge of anger welling up inside his chest. He thought, if I was stronger this would have never happened. If I could've seen Benny for what he was earlier, only if.

His pity party was cut short by the paramedic from before running back to the ambulance and weaving in between the two. He began rifling through the drawers. "Sorry to bother you, we ran out of morphine." With his departure came a Nevada state trooper's arrival. "You're Mr. Davis right?" He asked. "I'm Officer Townshend with the state police." The man was bigger than Brian, muscle wise, and stood at Christian's shoulder. His wide brimmed hat covered the greasy black mop that was his hair.

"Yes sir." Christian nodded. "One of two."

"Then maybe you can help me clear up these last few details." Townshend took a pad and a pen from his chest pocket. "How many people did the monster claim to kill?"

"Kishin," Christian corrected. "The kishin claimed to have killed over a hundred and twenty people, but with all these survivors you're finding, I think he was bluffing." Christian turned his body to face the man as he jotted down Christian's words.

"Thank you." Townshend glanced up at Christian. "How many, uh, kishins were there?" He asked.

"Four, we met the first one about twenty miles to the south at the old shack. The next was some sort of hell hound shape shifter. I'm pretty sure the bus and diner are his doing. Then we had our delightful disagreement with the local drunk." Christian smiled despite himself. "After all that I had to put down the boy in blue."

"Can you give us names?" Townshend asked. "That way we can mark them off the missing persons list." He readied his pen as Christian thought.

"Philip, Philp Johnson." Christian told him. He counted on his hand as he spoke. "Benny the drunk, I don't know his last name. And Officer Queen, the last guy I don't know at all."

"Thank you son, I'll tell the others." With this Townshend departed. At this moment the chopper arrived and took several wounded.

"Do you need to go?" Christian asked, he offered his arms for the little girl.

"No, she needs me more than my brother does." Loretta responded.

The next few minutes passed in silence. Christian watched as the moon moved across the sky, it's teeth bleeding. The throbbing in his shoulder returned, not painful just his heartbeat below the surface of the skin. As the moon waxed in the sky the throbbing worsened and the pain returned. Christian clenched his teeth and gripped the wound as the pain multiplied each passing minute. "Gah!" Christian spat the word out like foul water. Loretta looked up in surprise at Christian and saw the pain on his face. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Looks like the morphine's wearing off." Brian's voice took them both by surprise. "Sorry that took so long, I couldn't find a gas station to save my life."

Christian clenched his teeth trying to ignore the pain. "I'll go get a medic." Brian said as he turned and ran toward the mob of people. He returned to them moments later with the man who fixed his bandages. "Has it already been two hours?" He asked as he retrieved a needle from his bag. "Here." He stuck the needle in Christian's arm. Christian felt the numbing sensation roll over him. "Thank you." He said.

"Don't mention it." Was the reply.

Brian leaned against the door and folded his arms on his chest as the man left. "My offer is still open, miss Jenkins." He said.

"Give it a few years and I might take you up on it." She replied with a light hearted laugh.

"Might's better than no." Brian shrugged.

"Brian?" Christian asked.

"Hmm?" Was the response.

"How'd you know all that stuff?" Christian pointed to his shoulder.

Brian shifted a bit. "Well, um, I." Brian racked his brain trying to form words. "You remember a few years back I wanted to go into the army?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, during that time I wanted to be a field medic." Brian smiled at this. "So I borrowed a few books from Daniel's brother before he shipped off and taught myself everything I know from reading those old books. When Trevor didn't come back home, Daniel let me keep the books."

"Trevor?" Loretta asked.

"Boy from our home town." Brian explained. "He was a medic and his unit was called to Africa when the ebola outbreak hit a few years back, humanitarian relief. Anyway, while he was over there he caught the virus and refused treatment claiming that, 'Now I don't need that damn hazmat suit.'" Brian smiled. "He kept working for a week before the virus took him down. Few days later his parents saw those men in dress blues on the doorstep and received their son's Medal of Honor."

"There's a memorial at the courthouse dedicated to him." Christian added.

"I remember hearing something about that on the news a few years back." Loretta said.

Brian nodded. "Anyway, I used what I learned in those books and practiced on the cows and horses at home. Then Christian here goes and gets himself ripped up by that kishin and I get my first chance to practice on a human."

"Thanks Brian, good to know you know what you're doing." Christian said with a hint of sarcasm. He turned to Loretta, "Do you know anywhere we could stay tonight?"

She nodded. "The general store has bedrooms up stairs, I'll show you to it."

"Thank you." Christian stood up slowly. Loretta did the same, still clasping the little girl to her chest. Suddenly Christian realized that the morphine had done more than just numbed him as he began to fall with no sense of balance whatsoever. Brian dashed in and caught him on his own shoulder and let Christian lean on him as the four of them walked to the store.

Minutes later they stood in the small attic room. "This used to be storage, but my dad turned it into a guest room for travelers who get caught here overnight." Loretta flipped the light switch and let the single swinging bulb cast dim light on the four twin sized beds set against the walls. "Just grab a bed and try to get some sleep."

Loretta chose the bed farthest from the door and laid down on it, letting the girl rest on the same bed beside her. Brian walked to the bed closest to the door and let himself fall on it. It gave a loud crack as he hit, the wooden frame screaming in protest. Christian claimed the bed on the left wall and eased himself into it.

"Thank you, Loretta." Christian fell asleep to the heartbreaking silent weeping of the little girl. Brian on the other hand stayed awake, waiting for the monsters that never came. Eventually the girl stopped crying and before he knew it the sun was rising and throwing rays of light through the small window.

Hours later they both sat in the buggy, engine running with their knees blood stained from the cleanup they had done. "Thank you boys so much." Loretta said to Christian. "Hopefully you'll come back under better circumstances?"

Christian smiled. "Here's hoping." He reached over and ran his hand through the young girl's now clean hair. "You be strong now Tasha, your momma wouldn't want you crying all the time." The girl smiled and leaned in to hug Christian. "Brian, take us home."

Brian finished his coffee and tossed the cup into the box behind them. Tasha released Christian and stood waving as Brian drove down the dusty road. "Bye!" She yelled after them.


	9. Chapter 9

_Today the plot_ _gets heavy, make predictions on who you think they are referring to in the end._

_Also, I would like to thank everyone who made it this far, I'm writing for you._

Chapter 9

Christian stepped out of the buggy and gave a whimper at his soreness. Medusa and Death stood side by side awaiting their arrival. Another man whom Christian didn't recognize stood farther back speaking to Sidd in a hushed tone. He stood extremely tall and wore a patched lab coat. Scars covered his face and his lips held a single lit cigarette. Most obvious was a huge screw sticking out of his head, the base of which was swallowed by the mop of silver hair. He looked up at Christian as he stepped out. "Oh yes, he is interesting Lord Death."

The man said in a way that sent chills down Christian's spine. Brian stepped out of the driver's seat. "Four down, ninety-five to go Lord Death." Brian practically sang. Christian had developed a limp from his untreated ankle, as apparent by his walk over to the group of his superiors. "Mission accomplished Lord Death."

"So it would seem." Death said. "Mr. Davis, please meet doctor Franken Stein." Death held out his hand. "He will be giving you private lessons for the next three months."

Christian limped to Stein and extended his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you sir." Stein smiled and accepted the greeting. "The pleasure's all mine! I can't wait to get you back to my lab."

"Right." Christian said, concern entered on the tail end of the word. "I'm Christian and this is my brother Brian."

"Yo!" Brian called as he emptied the tool box.

"You're both a lot older than the others, despite being first years." Stein stared at Christian's chest. "With this in mind I won't go easy on you."

Christian smiled. "I wouldn't want it any other way." Brian leaned against the top of the buggy. "So what kind of lessons are we talking here?" Brian asked.

"The only kind we teach here of course!" Stein laughed.

...

Two months later.

Christian stood bloody, his lip busted and his arms scored with scrapes and bruises, his pant leg ripped open and his knee bloodied and shredded. "AGAIN!" Stein yelled.

Christian charged at Stein, glaive level, and swung at his waist. Stein leaped into the air, only to be answered by Christian planting his blade in the ground and pole vaulting up to Stein's level. Christian smiled as he felt his feet connect with Stein's chest.

Stein received the hit and fell on his back, barely managing to dodge the blade as it was ripped from the ground and was slammed to split the dirt in between Stein's legs. Stein rolled on his shoulders and jumped to his feet. His hands crackled as his soul energy built up in two small orbs. Christian righted himself and prepared for the worst.

Stein shot forward, closing the small distance between them in three steps. Christian let go of his weapon and grabbed Stein's wrists, keeping his soul energy away from him. Stein smiled and landed a well-aimed gut kick as Christian performed a near perfect body pass. Christian gulped air as he turned to meet Stein's next advance, only to receive a devastating kick to the head.

Stein gave a laugh as Christian staggered, refusing to welcome the beckoning ground. A fresh wound had opened on his forehead and blood began to seep between his eyes. "You've come a long way Christian, but you're still not fast enough." Stein let the soul energy build up in his hands once again and slowly began walking toward Christian.

Christian racked his brain to come up with something, spying his brother on the ground he dashed and retrieved him as Stein advanced. An idea occurred to Christian at this moment and he brought the blade to cover his mouth. "Turn to human and take the hit." He whispered. Brian's face appeared on the cold steel with a semi annoyed look. "Don't say anything, just trust me." Brian gave a reluctant nod and waited for the hit.

Stein smiled and then let loose a yell as he charged at the brothers. He got closer, hands sparking with pure energy as they reached to grab Christian. Then, moments before impact, Brian assumed human form and took both soul taps directly to the chest. Without wasting time climbed over his brother and landed a flawless superman punch.

Stein staggered back as Christian landed a follow up left hook, pumping his soul into each hit. Another three well aimed punches landed in quick succession and a follow up kick put Stein on his back. Christian didn't let up, and Brian began to recover his senses. "Fight solo!" Christian yelled.

Stein avoided a rather barbaric curb stomp by rolling away and jumping to his feet. Stein smiled genuinely as Christian charged at him. He let the soul build up in his hand, ready to finish the young meister in one hit. Suddenly his priorities changed as the silver blade of a glaive entered his vision. Stein let his upper body go limp and felt the blade take several strands of hair off. The second blade, aimed at his legs, forced Stein to leap back.

Brian stood next to Stein's old foothold, his forearms no longer the human arms rather twin, two foot blades. "Finally, it gets interesting!" Stein laughed. Christian ran up and stopped next to his brother. "Keep him on the defensive." He said quietly.

Brian charged, arms, well blades, outstretched and sent a jab at Stein. Stein sidestepped and grabbed the top of the blade before performing a body pass. Christian flew from Brian's shadow and landed an uppercut that once again staggered the good doctor.

Stein staggered back and decided it to be best to put some distance between himself and the brothers. He watched as they seemed completely in sync, charging him once again. Brian reached him first and fell to his knee while stabbing for his gut. Stein drew back and attacked Brian, while watching for Christian's follow up attack. Christian used his brother's back as a ramp and landed a flying knee strike, but not without consequence. Stein grabbed Christian's foot as he passed over him.

The pulse struck Christian hard and he fell to the ground gasping in for air. Brian kept Stein from finishing the job by pressing his attack. His lopsided and barbaric attacks making haphazard strikes that kept Stein guessing. He's unreadable, very interesting. Stein found a gap and built up another soul tap before launching it at Brian.

Christian's hand caught the outstretched palm with the sparking ball, the strike intended for Brian. Christian absorbed the built up energy and returned it as Stein changed his wavelength to harm him. Stein's eyes widened in surprise as the strike actually did substantial damage, blood escaped in a cough forced out by Christian's well placed gut punch. He retreated several yards "Excellent!" Stein yelled in between gasps of air. "Time to step it up a little."

Stein charged at the two, which was answered by Brian as he threw himself at Stein. Christian watched as Stein flipped over his brother, leaving him behind. A slight panic rose as Stein kept his sight on him. Christian let his soul swell to its maximum size and built up the charge in his hands. Christian lowered his shoulders and charged at Stein, letting loose a roar of determination.

They met in a small explosion of light that lit up Stein's backyard. When the dust died down Stein was on his knees, looming over Christian's fidgeting body. "Calm down and meditate Mr. Davis." Stein turned back to Brian and caught his blade in his clasped hands. He looked into Brian's eyes, now slit pupils and serpentine. Stein narrowed his own eyes in determination.

"Your brother did quite a lot of damage, I won't be able to fight for much longer." Stein said more to himself than to Brian. Brian smiled, swinging his arm in an arc aimed for Stein's head. Stein slipped underneath the outstretched blade and landed a powerful hit on Brian's solar plexus. He followed this up with a teep kick and finally a flying knee. Brian fell to the ground and Stein stepped on his throat. His eyes, returned to the right shape. "Excellent, both of you." With those words he backed off to the edge of his lot and let Brian catch his breath.

Stein reached up to his head and twisted the screw a few times. He then reached into his coat pocket and produced a cigarette. "I am very proud of you both, you have advanced far beyond my expectations." He lit the cigarette and inhaled a short drag. "This concludes your fight training, and tomorrow we start on your soul detection. Go home and get some rest."

Christian picked himself off the ground a few minutes later and grimaced as the adrenaline influenced high slowly wore off. "Dammit, I thought we had him." He beat the ground with his fist as he slid up from his knees to his feet. "Oh, you did." Stein's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I just cheated, your teamwork was flawless. Against anyone else you would have easily won. However," Stein took another drag from his cigarette, "your enemies will never fight fair. The kishin eggs will only get harder and harder to fight, but if you hone this style you will likely gain the advantage."

Brian got up and stood to his feet. "You mean fighting as two?"

"Exactly, it's rare for a weapon to be able to fight alone and those who can usually aren't very effective. However Brian's fighting style is completely unpredictable, and that's an advantage. He has strong striking power and exceptional reach. Then we have you, Christian." Sein took another drag and let the smoke seep out of the corners of his mouth. "Your martial arts are far beyond novice level, but not quite professional. Your attacks impressed me, each hit had your soul energy condensed into it, though your intensity leaves much to be desired."

"So we know where we need to improve." Christian said. "Good, we'll see you tomorrow Doctor Stein." With this the brothers left through the back gate and started the long journey home.

"Make sure you meditate Christian!" Stein yelled as a farewell. "I'm starting to like those kids." With this he entered his own house and shut the door. Immediately he went to the bathroom mirror and scribbled Death's number on the bottom.

"Hello, hello Stein!"

"Lord Death." Stein greeted with a curt nod.

"I imagine this isn't a social call."

Stein smiled. "Unfortunately not." His face returned to its normal, more somber state. "I can't confirm it yet, but Brian began showing signs consistent with the book."

"What kind of signs?"

"His eyes matched perfectly with the description for at least five whole seconds. They were, yellow with slit pupils. I think it may actually have happened, just like _He _promised."

Death stood silently, waving slightly in the mirror. "That's impossible." He finally said.

"Brian matches the description, and they both are Chinese descent." Stein finished his cigarette and extinguished the butt in the sink. "Christian has yet to show any signs whatsoever, but I doubt he will while those chains still hold him."

"You don't understand Stein." Death's voice took a more serious tone. "That man has been dead for almost eighteen hundred years. His grave is three hundred feet away from me."

"Maybe, and all due respect, but you've been wrong before." Stein countered. "Assuming he's been reincarnated in the body of Christian, what should we be prepared for? More importantly, what do we do now at this moment?"

Death shook his head. "Humans truly are remarkable." His voice assumed a much more light hearted tone. "If it is him, so be it. Let him continue his training and we'll see how everything plays out."

Stein locked eyes with Lord Death's mask, a skeptical look painted on his face. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yep!"

Stein reached into his pocket and retrieved another cigarette and placed it on his lips. "Whatever you say." Stein flipped his zippo as Death started to fade and lit his cigarette. "Tomorrow should be a lot of fun." He smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Christian downed the last of his coffee as he made his way to class, draining the styrofoam cup as he stepped through the open door. With a back handed toss he threw it away and found his seat among the lecture hall. Brian followed soon after, carrying his bag by the top strap. "Alright everyone, sit down and shut up." Sidd's voice called out. "Today we're going to study the transition of a human soul to a kishin egg."

"We already covered that!" Ox yelled from the front row.

"Maybe, but a considerable number of students still made low marks on it." Sidd glanced at Blackstar, Brian, and Soul all in turn as he said this. "So we will cover it a third time, and hopefully it will stick."

Christian picked up his pen and began drawing in his notebook as Sidd gave the lecture that he had heard, literary, twice before. His ink scribblings gave shape to resemble the back of Tsubaki's head. As the class continued he ended up making a fairly decent sketch of the back of her head and shoulders. By the end of the class he had done Blackstar as well.

Minutes later the bell rang and upon exiting Christian saw the crowd of students gathered tightly around the mission board. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Somebody took the Pyramid Mission!" A student answered.

"Really, who?" Brian asked.

"No one recognizes the name." Soul's voice cut through.

"Everyone needs a start." Christian said absently.

The Davises moved away from the group and went to the courtyard for their free period. Upon arriving they met a young couple who waved in greeting. The boy was a little older than Christian and Japanese. He wore a loose fitting pair of jeans and a green, zip up hoodie. The tips of his otherwise black hair was bleached and he wore a dark blue shirt. The girl was a year younger and Chinese American. Her beautiful red hair was bound into a short pony tail on the back left but hung free on the rest of her head. She wore a pair of knee length khakis and black leggings underneath. Her own sky blue hoodie was zipped only halfway up, just enough to cover her full breasts. Her black tank top and a sandals completed the outfit.

"Ken, Jade!" Brian yelled. The brothers ran over to the couple sitting on the steps. Ken sat one step higher and Jade sat in between his legs. "Haven't seen you in ages man."

"Just got back from our mission." Kenji replied. "Got back this morning." Christian sat next to him on the step while Brian remained standing.

"Sounds good, not much farther to go, right?" Christian asked.

Jade and Kenji smiled in unison and exchanged a look. "You tell me." He handed Christian a small piece of tri folded paper he had been holding in his hand.

Christian took it and began to read it. "By order of Lord Death, you are to depart for Bucharest, Romania by January 13th for your witch hunt." Christian looked up from the paper. Kenji smiled and nodded at him to keep reading. "You, brush meister Bashō Kenji, and your weapon, Jade Sonnet, have acquired, through direct combat, a number of ninety nine kishin egg souls. Prepare for departure immediately and best of luck on your assignment. Upon arriving in Burachest, contact Death Scythe Justin Law for more information and direction."

"Next time you see me I'll be a death scythe." Jade laughed.

"That's great guys." Brian smiled.

Christian looked down and his smile grew wider. "I also notice the lovely lady has picked up some new jewelry." Jade's hand shot to her lap as her face flushed red. "Finally popped the question did you, Ken?"

"Right there on the cliffs of Dover." Kenji leaned back and smiled. "Sun shining and the sea blowing, we had just claimed the third and final soul, some guy claiming to be Guy Fawkes, and I told her there were rumors of some madman raving at the cliffs. Shoulda seen the look on her face when I opened the ring."

Christian nodded. "Good, you'll be a great couple." Jade shot Christian a look. "Sorry, are a great couple."

"Says here you leave tomorrow, are you ready?" Brian asked as he read over the paper.

"Yeah, bags are packed and everything." Ken reached into his bag and started feeling around. "I actually have a gift for you Christian, seeing that I'm going to miss your birthday."

"No, that won't be necessary Ken." Christian objected.

"Oh, yes it is."

Another minute passed and Kenji pulled a long black box out of his bag. "Back in my home town of Ogimachi, a boy would be given his first sword when he turned eighteen." He gave the box to Christian. "It's more of a knife than a sword though."

Christian opened the box and saw a beautiful, six inch long tanto blade. "I ordered it last month, and they shipped it here last week." Kenji explained. "I would've given it to you on Friday, but then I got this letter."

Christian took the blade from its case, it was heavier than it looked. Christian shook his head as he read the Kanji along the blade, he recognized it as his name. He examined the cherry wood hilt, wrapped in gold trimmed black silk. "You didn't have to get me this man." Christian could feel a tear welling up. "Thank you."

"That's the real thing, folded steel and everything, made by the village blacksmith." Kenji boasted.

"Thanks Ken." Christian said. "No really, thank you it's an honor."

"Don't mention it." Kenji looked back at Brian. "I'll get you one in September."

"Could I have one of those big swords instead?" Brian asked.

"Big swords?" Ken asked

"You know, those two handed katanas." Brian put one fist on top of the other and began acting like he was swinging a sword.

"My friend, an ōdachi maybe a little big for you."

"Brian, stop being an ass." Christian said.

"Let him have his fun, maybe he'll trip down the stairs." Jade teased. With a chuckle and a flourish she stood to her feet. "Now, if you boys will excuse me, I need to get to class."

"See you later broom!" Brian yelled to her back.

Christian put the blade back in its box and put it on the step beside him. "Who else have you told about the engagement?" He asked.

"Just you guys, Sidd, and Lord Death." Kenji said. "No one really, we're just kind of letting people put two and two together here."

Christian nodded. "I just never thought that I'd see her embarrassed." Brian interrupted. "I mean she's a little fire ball."

Kenji began laughing in his seat, stair. "You got that right."

Christian smiled as he remembered his first sparring session with the pair.

…

"A brush?" Brian asked. "A giant calligraphy brush, that's your weapon form?"

"That a problem, hick?" Jade spat.

Christian circled Kenji, stepping closer with each revolution. The two weapons continued to foam at each other like caterwauling feral cats. In his mind he couldn't see any danger in the weapon, only a brush, but he was not going to be reckless. After all, Sidd had assigned him because he thought Christian to be a "warmup match" for Kenji.

Christian had heard rumors of Kenji in the first few minutes after being assigned to him. How he could defend from all directions at once, and even attack in the same instant. Even an upperclassmen had whispered to him as he entered the ring, "Don't stop moving." What the hell did that mean?

"Chinatown Harlot!" Followed closely by "Trailer Trash!" The two weapons continued to bicker until finally Christian silenced Brian. Kenji smiled and stopped moving his feet, Christian kept going. Suddenly ink began flowing out of the tip of the brush. It built up in a large puddle, growing wider and more pronounced with each passing second.

Christian took a few steps back, wary of what was about to happen. Kenji dipped the brush in the ink and picked it up, but something very strange happened. As the brush moved it left a suspended trail of black ink hanging in the air. He made the kanji for fire, then water directly beside it. He met Christian's confused gaze and smiled. "You shouldn't have let me make these."

He spun the brush and tapped the kanji of fire with the tail end. A great crack filled the air as black flames roared to life. They shot for Christian, who dropped to the ground to avoid the blistering heat. "What the hell!" Brian screamed. Christian remembered the water symbol and immediately rolled from beneath the flames and jumped away as the ink tidal wave came crashing down with crushing force in the very spot Christian had hit the ground.

"Impressive, that usually works." Christian witnessed him finish the kanji for bat and tap the suspended ink. Hundreds, upon thousands of tiny black bats erupted from the ink. They swarmed Christian, biting and blinding him. They fell in ones and fours as Christian swung his glaive to fight them off. Suddenly the ground was ripped out from under him and he was dragged by both feet by a dark tentacle toward Kenji. "This is where you lose, country boy."

"Like hell!" Christian yelled, he brought the glaive down and cut the tentacle holding him. He jumped to his feet and turned to see that Kenji had a multitude of kanji surrounding him. Among the seven were; wall, snake, fire, man, monkey, sky, and ice. Christian's eyes widened in surprise as Kenji twisted the brush and the kanji moved, fire now facing him.

Christian charged as the kanji was activated. Hitting his knees, he slid underneath the licking flames. Then, upon their exhaust, he leapt to his feet and swung the glaive as hard as he could. Clang!

Christian's eyes widened in surprise once again, realizing that this was the wall kanji. Ink had made a literal wall around them, harder than steel and only half as thick. Suddenly a fist crashed through the wall and a man stepped out of the hole. He was pure ink, just like the others and heavily resembled a storefront mannequin.

The wall repaired itself as the man assumed a fighting stance. "Damn, um I'M SORRY FOR CALLING YOU USELESS BRUSH LADY!" Brian yelled as Christian fought the superhuman mannequin. He was actually winning, until something bit his leg. "What the hell?"

Christian looked down to see the little ink snake clasped onto his ankle. The distraction cost him a freight train level punch to the face. He stumbled back, staggered by the devastating hit.

Suddenly all the ink creatures fell away and recombined into the black puddle at Kenji's feet. "I win." He said.

"What?" Christian asked.

"My little snake just injected exactly four ounces of my ink directly into your bloodstream. I can just spread it through any limb, and it's mine." To demonstrate, Kenji moved and twisted the bush and forced Christian to move his arm. "If I wanted to kill you, I would just collect it in your heart. Then poof." Kenji mimicked a small explosion with his hand. "One more for the pile."

…

That was six months ago, funny it seemed like years. They had become close after that, respecting each other's power. Brian continued to tease the mess out of Jade and they argued constantly, in a teasing friendly way.

"She hasn't changed much since that day." Christian commented. "She's a good catch though, take care of her."

"She hasn't changed a bit my friends." Kenji laughed. "I remember meeting her in the NOT class and thinking that no one would ever be able to pair with her."

"And yet here you are, what? Four years later?" Christian asked.

"Four years, three months, and eighteen days." Kenji boasted.

"Not that you're counting." Brian laughed.

Christian smiled and picked up the knife. "Thank you for this." He stood up. "Listen, me and Brian have some extra money. How about we get Adam and the Carson sisters and a few of your other buddies and meet up at the Death Desert Wing House tonight after my private lessons. We'll throw you a little party celebrating the whole death scythe thing in advance and the engagement."

"No, I mean I can't let you do that." Kenji denied. "It wouldn't be right."

"You got him a present Ken." Brian scoffed. "He won't back down."

Kenji smiled and stood up to meet Christian. "What time?" He asked.

"Oh, ninish." Christian answered.

"Alright, I'll tell Jade." Kenji nodded. "Thanks guys. See you later." Kenji picked up his bag and ran to the door.

Christian looked at Brian with a smile. "You're feeling pretty good right now aren't you?" Brian asked.

"Yep, I just can't wait for the bachelor party." Christian began walking down the steps. "That's going to be fun. Do you think we could sneak him into Chupo Cobra's?"

"Yeah, then again we could always just get Blair to give him a private show." Brian laughed. "I'm sure Maka wouldn't mind us getting that cat out of her hair for a night."

"True my friend, very true." Christian nodded. "Man, I'm starving. Want to go down to the Deathbucks café and grab something to eat?"

Brian shrugged his shoulders. "Might as well, we still have forty five minutes to kill. Besides, I'm not looking too forward to biology today, Spirit doesn't exactly like me."

Christian turned around and began descending the stairs backwards. He fixed Brian with amused eyes. "I wonder why, I mean you did drop a guillotine on him."

"Nope, that slips my mind, don't remember that." Brian denied. "Lets go grab something to eat so you'll be ready for tonight."

"Sounds good." Christian descended the stairs in twos and stopped at the bottom. "I think I'm going to like tonight."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Christian found his way to Stein's house about twenty minutes early. "Hey, Doc!" Brian yelled. They entered through the back gate and found Stein waiting for them on his porch sitting in his customary office chair. "Greetings once again Davises." Stein puffed his cigarette and smiled. "I'm afraid we're going to be deviating from our scheduled training session for tonight."

Stein let his head slip down to rest on the back plate of the chair. "I grew curious after last night's sparring, and I decided I want to see your soul resonance."

Christian frowned at that. "We, uh, we've never done a soul resonance, doctor." He scratched the back of his head. "And to be honest, we don't know how." Christian gave Stein a look that mixed all of his uncertainties together at once. Stein returned an unamused look that bordered anger.

"And you didn't tell me this earlier, why?" Stein asked rather crossly. "As a meister a the soul resonance should come second nature to you, even more so with your mastery of self resonance." Stein flicked his cigarette away. "Can your souls link? Can they exchange? If they can't then Brian is not the weapon for you."

"Yes and yes." Christian defended. "We have simply been hesitant to try a soul resonance because of my handicap."

"So hesitant that you never even bothered to learn how?" Stein asked, his answer was Christian head dropping in a shameful nod. Stein sighed and got out of his chair. "We'll start at square one then. Brian, become my weapon."

Brian shrugged his shoulders and took the form of a glaive. Stein took the weapon and changed his soul to resonate with Brian. "First your souls must become polar opposites." A light wind began slurring around them. "Next, you must let your soul energy flow to and from the weapon. Let it build, amplified by each revolution." Pebbles and dirt began to shift by Stein's feet as his coat began flapping in the wind. "Then build it, build it until you feel like you soul is going to explode." Stein's smile formed as he let the power build. Brian began to change too, his blade grew longer and sharper. The staff took a green tint and also grew another two foot backwards, resulting in a total of eight feet of staff and three of blade. Stein watched as a hook grew on the top of the blade and smiled as the rest of it assumed a crescent moon shape. "Finally, when you have maxed out your soul. Attack."

Stein spun on the spot and sliced with the blade. The air screamed in protest as a line of fire erupted from the blade. The air exploded with fire, growing like a tidal wave approaching the shore. It extended for meters in each direction and grew downward to scrape the ground, leaving a trail of scorched dirt and glass. It grew upward and engulfed the sky, burning the air itself. The fire roared, alive as the flames continued to grow. The solitary tree in the lot was clipped and simply disintegrated to ash, leaving what was let a smoldering stump. Suddenly it dissipated and caved in on itself, leaving the thirty yard trail of smoke and scorched earth behind.

Stein's eyes were as wide as they could be, mouth open and speechless. "Doctor?" His eyes were fixed on the trail, then to the shrinking blade and back. A solemn look took hold as he turned to Christian. "Doctor?" He asked again.

"Doc?" Brian's voice came through again. "Something wrong?"

"Doctor Stein, are you okay?" Christian asked.

Stein let the smile return and handed Brian back to Christian. "Lets see you try it."

Christian took the blade and stepped back. He let his soul grow, letting it form halfway to the chains. "Good, now pass off the energy." Stein instructed. Christian closed his eyes and allowed his energy pass into the glaive. He felt it leave, felt the warmth as Brian consumed the energy. The wind picked up around them, blowing his jacket tails in the heavy breeze. He felt his hair shift, the tips of his bangs tickling his brow. "Do the same you did for me Brian." Christian could smell the tobacco of the new cigarette, the scent teased his nostrils as he felt the soul return to him.

Again he passed it back to his brother, and again he received it. The weapon began to change in his hand, elongating once again, and becoming somewhat lighter. Christian opened his eyes and concentrated on his target, the stump of the ruined tree. Suddenly, he felt the power in his hands. It pumped between them, exchanging at the speed of light now. Stein took a step back as a light began to emulate from them. His eyes watched eagerly as Christian's soul grew to meet the chains.

Then, then things began going wrong. Blood began pouring from Christian's nose, his gums became inflamed and began free flowing blood from his mouth. From his tear ducts came tears of blood and his ears gave way to vast amounts of the life fluid. Suddenly the soul gave an explosive burst and jarred the chains, fresh wounds visible on the surface. Physical evidence of this bared itself in the form of Christian falling to his knees and his head jerking back as if struck by a heavy blow. He dropped Brian and gave a cry of agony as the ground welcomed him.

Brian turned human and grabbed his crippled brother. "Chris!" He yelled, he fell to his knees in an attempt to catch Christian's lifeless body. He succeeded in softening the blow, but could not stop him from hitting the ground. "Turn him over." Stein said. Brian obeyed turning Christian's dead weight to lie on his back.

Stein fell to his knees beside the brothers and put his hand to Christian's throat. "Dammit, he's going into shock." Christian gave a hacking cough, blood spraying out like a fountain. "Turn him on his side, make sure he can breath." Stein looked up and stopped in his tracks as his eyes met Brian's, bright yellow eyes with slit pupils, slowly turning human. He shook his head, "Your jacket, give me your jacket." Stein said.

One hour later, Christian sat on the concrete porch, sipping coffee. "What the hell happened?" He whispered. Stein sat in his chair a few feet away, his glasses reflected the light of the rising moon. The chair creaked slightly as Stein shifted before answering. "You soul utterly rejected the resonance." He flicked the ashes off the cigarette. "It seemed as if the moment you channeled your energy into the attack your soul automatically sent pure energy from the source and overpowered your limits." A brief pause. "I think it's safe to say that you don't need to attempt a resonance until the chains are gone." He twisted the screw and smiled. "Sorry about that. Once you feel better you can go on home, your lesson for tonight is over."

"Good night, and have fun at the party!" He burst out and kicked off back into his house. His chair squeaked loudly as is crossed the threshold and made it about to the sitting room before falling over. Brian rounded the inside corner and watched as the scientist tipped over and hit the floor. "See you later Doc." He said as he clapped his hands together and put them in his pockets.

Christian upturned the cup and winced slightly as his throat was seared raw. "Let's go Brian." He sat the cup on the porch and began the memorized six mile path back to civilization. They walked in silence, not a sound beyond the repeated steps on the asphalt.

Back in the casè de Stein, Stein stood in front of the bathroom mirror and wrote the familiar numbers again. 42-42-564

"Hello, Stein! More bad news I trust?" Death asked in his normal singsong voice.

Stein scoffed. "Unfortunately." He finished his cigarette and tossed the butt into the sink. "There is no doubt in my mind that Brian is indeed the Green Dragon." Stein said with a frown. "His appearance, his eyes, and his resonance all match the lore to a T. What's more, he changes shape to match the Green Dragon upon activating soul resonance."

"What of young Christian?" Death asked. "Green Dragon is powerful no doubt, but without its true master it is just another weapon."

Stein kept his frown. "Christian is still up in the air, so to speak. The chains are still the problem in determining whether or not Christian is a reincarnation of the man." He let out a sigh. "It is possible that Green Dragon is alone this time, and is simply using a temporary meister before choosing his new owner."

"I doubt that completely." Death said crossly. "Green Dragon has only had one master, because only one could handle him." Stein produced a new cigarette and lit it without speaking. "That man defied my predecessor, my father, and breifly created a time without death. I will not make the same mistakes."

"I know, I read the stories." Stein took a long drag from the cigarette and let the smoke exit his nose. He took the book from the top of the toilet and flipped to the marked page. "He challenged the previous Lord Death to a duel, wishing to rid the world of the tyranny that he was. 'The warrior gave a great cry, screaming, fight me oh Great Murder, Thief of Souls.' After three days and nights of mortal combat with each other the challenger stood victorious over your predecessor and struck him down. 'Three suns and three moons gave spectacle to the battle before the hero stood where Death kneeled and claimed his head.' Old Chinese stories give no justice to the matter though." Stein slapped the book shut and smiled.

"No they don't." Death bowed his head. "Watch him Stein, don't let him know who he might be." Death disappeared from the mirror.

Later that night a group of teenagers sat around the crowded table at Death Desert Wing House laughing and playing a game of nonalcoholic coin shots known as fire shots. Christian smiled as he bounced his last quarter off the table and laughed at the resounding groan as it clinked into the shot glass, joining the three others. Kenji, Brian, Adam, and Lovell all raised their glasses and drank their respective shots of flaming fury hot sauce.

Kenji made a face that only turned funnier as the spice hit him, a cough sounded as he began to choke on the devilishly hot liquid. Brian mirrored Kenji as he placed his shot glass next to his other three on the table. Adam caved and grabbed his glass of milk before even half of the dark red liquid was gone. As for the Frenchman, Lovell, he finished his shot and placed it on the table defiantly as Christian placed his feet on the table.

Lovell, a weapon, stood just shorter than Brian and had less meat on him than Adam. "Next round if you please." He said with barely any accent, his time in the states slowly decaying it. His lanky frame made it hard to believe that he was indeed a trident halberd, a huge weapon. His meister sat beside him, a girl of about fourteen named Luban. Only one word ever described her, as only one would work, petite. She stood just over five foot and weighed just eighty five pounds being generous. Despite this, not anyone at the academy, save Blackstar, would trifle with her.

Luban, Diana, and Jade sat across and next to each other, watching and laughing at the stupidity of their respective weapon or meisters. Amy sat next to Christian, she had grown close to him and now hero worshiped him. "Good job Chris." She said as he gathered the coins. "Who's ready for round five?" She asked.

"Another round of fire shots!" Christian called. A waitress nodded and walked to the back. "God no." Adam gasped. "I'm going teh feel this in my stomach for weeks, how can you fellas keep going?"

"Pride." Lovell answered. He stuck out his hand and muttered something under his breath. "My shot right?" Christian nodded and handed him the quarters. "Watch me mon ami." A waitress came to the table and dropped the tray full of the flaming shot glasses. He placed a quarter between each fingertip and threw three at once. Each clanked as it left the table and gave a clink as all three entered the designated shot glass. "Battre ce, garçon de la campagne!" He cried.

"You're not human frenchie!" Brian said as he downed his shot, Christian upturned his own, followed by the next two shots. The paste like sauce burned like liquid magma as it slid down their throats. Kenji felt his nose begin to bleed as the liquid flowed down his raw throat. He gave a cough and winced as his nostrils burned from the residue that escaped his nose. "I'm out, I can't do anymore." Brian conceded too as a thin stream of blood came frm his own nose.

Christian downed his last glass and smiled as Kenji gulped his glass of milk. "You know what Lovell?" Christian motioned for a waitress. "Let's up the ante, five bucks says I can last through the next part longer than you can."

"And what would this next part be, country boy?" Lovell asked.

The waitress came to the table. "Two new glasses of milk and a ginger root, and two raw ghost peppers, please." Christian said without looking at her, she scribbled down the order on the note pad then turned and left.

"Ghost peppers?" Lovell asked. "Mon ami you're making that up."

"We'll see." Christian tossed a five dollar bill on the table and motioned with an open hand. Lovell glared at him with a quizzical expression before calling his bet. "One piece of advice Frenchie, don't let air touch it."

Brian smiled devilishly and whispered to Kenji as they waited for the peppers to arrive. Kenji shook his head and smiled as the waitress returned. Luban, who had been ignoring the last few minutes of conversation, glanced up to see the girl place two glasses of milk and shaved ginger between the two boys. "What have you gotten yourself into Lovell?" Her annoyed furrow quickly disappeared upon recognizing the two dark red peppers being placed between them. It was replaced with a mischievous grin.

"Watch this Amy." Christian said as he took the pepper in hand. It was barely bigger than his thumb but seemed impossibly heavy for its size. "On three Frenchie."

"Qui, can we get on with it?" Lovell asked. "How bad can it be?"

A loud snort was heard from the Americans collectively at the table. Christian shook his head in what might have been pity before looking back up at Lovell. "One, two, and three." Christian opened his mouth and spread his lips as far as he could from the red skin of the devil's fruit. His teeth found a bite at the base of the stem and severed it in a quick chomp, then shut his mouth and began breathing slowly through his nose. He chewed slowly before swallowing.

Lovell on the other hand bit just shy of the base with his lips touching the pepper. He chewed with his lips parted and swallowed the pepper in seconds. "You call that a burn Christian?" In response Christian's smile grew and he reached over and collected the two five dollar bills. "Hey, you have to win first." Lovell protested.

Christian held up his fingers and began counting down from five. Almost on command, as Christian's pointer finger fell, a throbbing began to emerge on Lovell's tongue. This was followed closely by the reddening of his face and throat, and sweat forming on his brow. "Okay, that's got a good burn." He said. Christian's cheeks and brow began to turn a similar shade of red, though not as dark, and an absence of sweat could be observed.

Lovell's face grew a darker and darker shade of red as blood began to drip from his nose. Lovell coughed and immediately regretted doing so as it felt as is the fires in his mouth had intensified tenfold. "Merde, that's hot." Christian smiled as the Frenchman hit the table, his neck was a red as his face. Tears came streaming out of his eyes as he finally reached for his milk. After finishing it in three gulps he looked at Christian and smiled. "You're the one who's not human."

Christian reached for the ginger and popped it into his mouth. Almost immediately the redness in his face disappeared and he began breathing through his mouth again. "I told you not to let air touch it." He said as he sipped his tea. "You have to smother it like a fire.."

The fire returned to Lovell and he downed his coke without a second's hesitation. "No," Christian was too late. "Caffeine only makes it worse." Lovell doubled over as the fire returned tenfold, saliva began to dribble from his mouth as it hung open. "Here, this will kill it." Christian pushed the ginger to him. Lovell took it and nearly gagged from the taste but immediately noticed the soothing release.

"Well it's been fun you guys, but some of us have to kill a witch tomorrow." Kenji stood up and put his coat on Jade's shoulders. "I'll see you guys when I get back." Jade stood and exchanged goodbyes with the other girls. They left, Kenji with his arm around her shoulders. "Cute couple." Christian commented.

"If you say so." Diana responded. "We need to get going to Adam, Amy is up way too late tonight." Adam glanced at his watch and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right" he said. "See you guys at the sparring match tomorrow."

"Oh, that's tomorrow?" Brian asked.

"Yep, you ready teh get your ass whipped?" Adam sneered.

"Language!" Amy yelled.

"Right, sorry" Adam said.

Diana stood behind Amy and pulled the chair out for her "Good night Christian, hopefully you'll come up with some better lines next time."

"Once again the mighty huntress has pierced my heart with her tongue of ice!" Christian joked. "One day I shall charm the fox into my arms."

"Maybe one day country boy, but definitely not tonight." Diana took Amy's hand and followed Adam out of the restaurant. Christian turned to Lovell and made a toast motion with his tea glass before picking up the check and walking to the front desk. "Brian, leave a tip." He called over his shoulder.

They entered their dorm thirty minutes later. "Did you have to do that to the Frenchie?" Brian asked. Christian smiled and took a seat on the couch. "Boy was a little too cocky for my taste."

Brian shook his head. "Get to bed soon, we either have to face Adam or Luban tomorrow. Either way it won't be easy." Brian threw his jacket on the back of the couch and threw his shirt in the clothes bin by the bedroom door as passed the threshold. Yawned and eventually went to his own bed before midnight. His dreams welcomed him and he drifted into a deep sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

_Sorry for the delay, as a college student this story is my lowest priority and I was falling behind in my classes. Without further ado, the twelveth chapter._

Chapter 12

Christian awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs, the sound of grease spitting and the oh so gentle. "Get up, you lazy ass!" This was followed closely by the twin size bed going airborne and Christian finding himself in the floor.

Christian stayed on his back for a few minutes before sitting up and entering the living/dining area. "Thanks for the wakeup call." Christian walked over to the counter to retrieve his plate of scrambled eggs and three strips of floppy bacon with two small biscuits, a dribbling of gravy covered the tops of the biscuits. "Looks good, better than that usual slop."

"Better than that usual slop." Brian mimicked in a high pitched voice. "I wanted a real breakfast, so I made it." He bit into his bacon with a satisfying crunch. "Eat up before it gets cold."

"Thanks." Christian sat down across from his brother at the small, two man table in the corner of the room. He pushed his fork through the eggs before piercing the biggest one and eating it. Brian is a damn good cook, the eggs were seasoned to perfection and the gravy was just the right consistency and texture to go with the soft biscuits. "You ready for today?"

Brian nodded and took another bite of his food. "Yeah, but I was wondering." He looked up and met Christian's gaze. "Could we try that new fighting style? The one we used against Stein."

"I don't see why not." Christian picked up another egg and balanced it on the prongs. "We used it against him and we were able to land hits, just imagine what it would do to Luban or Adam."

"Exactly, but I just can't charge in there." Brian said. "We need to let them think they're winning, make them forget about me."

"I could drop you." Christian took a put the fork in his mouth and thought. "Maybe if I make them think they've separated you from me."

"Adam likes weapon locks." Brian said as he took a bite out of his biscuits.

"I would too if I had a weapon like Amy." Christian sneered. "She may be small, but she is damn level fast. Diana is predictable, Adam uses her for defense and distance. I've never seen him ever attack with her."

"Amy on the other hand probably claimed all eighteen souls the pair of them have." Brian finished Christian's thought.

Christian smiled. "Exactly, if we can help it we don't get anywhere close to Adam." He scooped another egg into his mouth and looked back at Brian. "What about Luban?"

Brian shrugged his shoulders. "She's all power, as soon as Lovell is in her hands she turns into a little demon."

"But at least she's predictable." Christian countered. "Power, power, power, and a stab. I'll just let her knock you out of my hands. Then you come up behind her and finish the job." Christian took a bite of his biscuits and began mashing them with his fork. "You up to fight Blackstar after the sparring?"

"Oh yes, I want get even with that little twerp for last time." Brian sneered as he chewed his last piece of bacon.

"If you turned back to human you wouldn't have gone down the storm drain." Christian said, a fresh smile forming on his lips. "What's the record now anyway?"

Brian leaned back in his chair to look at a small post it note hanging on the fridge. "Twelve wins, fourteen losses." He let his chair fall back into place. "We're catching up."

"Actually we're falling behind, the last four fights have been losses." Christian said as he finished his biscuits. "As we get better, he gets better and vice versa. That's how rivalries work."

Brian scowled at that. "That punk is just a little too smug for my likes."

"One often recoils from what he sees in the mirror." Christian quoted.

Brian glared at Christian trying to think of a witty retort but ended up using the generic. "Screw you." He stood up and took his plate to the sink, he ran a bit of water on it before depositing it in the growing pile of dishes in the sink. "I'll be in the shower if you need me."

"I'll try not to." Christian remarked.

Two hours later they stood in the courtyard of the school, around them stood their classmates. Sidd stood against one of the support poles with his arms crossed on his chest. Luban sat cross legged on the ground a few feet away from Christian. She wore khaki, thigh length shorts and a red hoodie with the hood drawn over her head. Lochs of her black hair trailed down and rested at her chin. Her feet were adorned with a pair of brown combat boots. Lovell stood beside her, his lanky frame covered by a shirt that was two sizes too big and a pair of loose fitting jeans. His worn sneakers were the same color of dusty brown as his short hair.

Luban barely spoke to a point that her words became precious. Christian remembered the first time she had actually spoken to him, with her alto pitch and cream like fluidity. It was a voice that didn't match her. Lovell on the other hand spoke almost too often. The Frenchman lacked an accent but often mixed French and English in an infuriating speech pattern that often led to him being tuned out entirely.

Sidd glanced at his watch and motioned with his hand. "We can't wait any longer, Kim and Jacqueline will be counted absent for this period." He led and the children followed him all the way to the park on campus. "Start your stretching and warm ups, I'll read off the pairings."

Christian began rotating his arm and stretching it as far as he could. Brian, decided that a few lunges would be a better choice. The other meisters and weapons followed suit, and already Blackstar began stretching his mouth. Most people just ignored him, others paid attention for milliseconds, then ignored him.

Sidd cleared his throat. "Maka and Soul versus Blackstar and Tsubaki. Ox and Harver versus Adam and the Carson sisters. Kilik and the pots versus Macy and Kayla. Christian and Brian versus Luban and Lovell. Nick and Darla versus Ivan and Friedrich. Finally, Kirsten and Jacob versus Lindsey and Hal. Maverick and Lauren, your opponent would have been Kim and Jacqueline but seeing as they're not here you'll fight whoever's done first."

Luban turned to look at Christian, her green eyes shining from beneath her hood. "Good luck country boys." She pushed her hood down and stuck out her hand. Lovell immediately took the shape of his weapon form. The trident halberd stood at seven feet tall and its crescent moon blade took up three feet of that. The spike serving as the spearhead added another six inches onto the eighty four inches of steel pole. On the opposite side of the blade was a dagger like knife blade extending eight inches making the width of the weapon easily two feet.

Luban closed her eyes and smiled as she grasped the pole. "I apologize in advance should I take your life." She said with the exact same tone one would say. "The doctor will see you now." She let the halberd fall and began spinning it in her hands.

Brian took his own weapon form and Christian snatched him up. The first blow hurt Christian's arms as the shock wave rippled through them and his chest. Luban's usual calm expression was replaced with a look of pure bloodlust. Therein lies the problem with fighting her, she's insane. The next hit rang sharply as the halberd's blade met Brian's staff, nearly ripping it from Christian's grasp. "Not yet." he whispered.

Luban swung again and landed a blow hard enough to knock Christian off balance. With inches to spare, Christian jumped clear of the next power hit. Her small frame was dwarfed by her own weapon, however she handled it like it weighed nothing. Each hit rang like a church bell and was distinguishable over everyone else's fighting. She let loose a shrill laugh as Christian was struck by the dagger blade on the shoulder, blood dripping from the fresh wound.

"Now?" Brian asked.

"Just a little more." Christian deflected the next hit and slid down the length of her weapon, landing a disorientating hit with the staff of Brian. Luban stumbled back and let loose a barrage of lopsided swinging strikes. Christian gave ground as the air screamed in protest at the sharp blade. Luban gave a cry and attacked Christian with a barrage of stabs, the spear point making the air sing as Christian dodged each attack. "Now." Christian lunged forward and struck the halberd sideways.

Using his momentum he trapped Brian in the ax head and pulled hard enough to bring Luban close to him. He pulled back his fist and landed a powerful right hook. Luban's head jerked back and anger painted itself on her face. "Hrrra!" She screamed and ripped back the halberd, Christian feigned surprise and let go of Brian causing him too clatter and skitter on the ground a few feet away. "Dammit." He muttered just loud enough to be heard.

Luban kept up her attack, each strike having enough force to split a mountain in twain. She began stabbing again and Christian caught the blade of the spear behind the point and jumped backwards. The halberd seemed even bigger now that it was in his hands, the spearhead alone was bigger than his hands. With a twist he drove the head of the ax into the ground and rolled up the staff, landing a spinning backfist.

Luban gave a cry of rage and struck Christian in her backswing, lifting him off the ground and rolling a few feet. Suddenly Luban gave a cry as Brian appeared behind her, Lovell fell from her still agonized hand. She held it, the strike had been blunt and painful, and her hand was probably broken. Brian glanced at Lovell as he turned human, his right arm taking the shape of his ax head.

Luban leaped away from Brian and dived for Lovell. She gave a cry of surprise as she was clotheslined by Christian and locked in a full nelson. "Take care of Frenchie, Brian." Christian called. Christian held Luban helpless in the full nelson as she was not strong enough nor big enough to put up any fight whatsoever.

Brian never got the pleasure. "I forfeit. Obviously Brian is versed in single combat and I am not. It's an unwinnable fight." Christian smiled and called for Sidd who immediately walked over and marked the victors. Luban's normal, composed personality returned. "Good job Chris, I didn't even see that coming."

Christian released her and smiled. "Just trying a new strategy, should've guessed Frenchie would surrender though." Lovell shot a very dirty look Christian's way and grumbled something in French. "Tell Maverick I'm ready when he is Sidd." Christian said.

"That won't be necessary, Adam finished Ox quick enough." Sidd replied. Speed, precision, and finesse are words that come to mind when the Bostonian fights. Diana, the rapier, and Amy the dagger, together these two are wielded by the fast talking, faster killing, miester. Christian watched as Maverick charged with his bastard sword and was locked in place by Adam's blades, after he was in lock he slid Amy down the four foot blade and struck a lightning fast blow against Maverick's neck, had he not used the hilt the other miester would likely be dead now. Maverick collapsed as his trachea turned against him, signaling the end of the fight. "Good job Adam!" Brian called. About this time, Maka forfeited to Blackstar and Kilik claimed victory over Macy, the other matches were much more civil.

Blackstar began his usual boasting, much to the annoyance of his audience. "None of you can beat me! Not a chance in hell!" Brian glanced at Christian, a look that needed no translation nor explanation, one that said "This kid is getting on my nerves." Despite Brian's bitching, Christian rather enjoyed Blackstar's constant shouting. Granted it is annoying, and quickly gets old.

After about another hour of sparring Sidd dismissed the class and Christian challenged Blackstar to a fight. "LOUDMOUTH!" Brian yelled. "We want a quick duel." Blackstar smiled and advanced to the pair. "Ready to lose again?" He taunted

Brian took his weapon form and Christian snatched him off the ground. "Let's go Blackstar." Christian swung at Blackstar, taking hairs off his brow, forcing him to leap back a few feet. "Tsubaki! Ninja sword!" He called. He rolled away from the next strike Christian sent, the blade leaving a deep gash in the earth. Tsubaki obeyed and fell to the ground in the form of a ninjato yards away from him, he closed the distance and grabbed her as the glaive claimed the edge of his pant leg.

"Again?" Sidd asked in dismay, the other classmates were a bit more enthusiastic as they found seats on the grass and against trees to witness the fight. The students rather enjoyed the fights, they liked seeing someone who could shut Blackstar up, even for those few precious moments. "Kick his ass!" Adam yelled. Diana found a seat in the grass next to the shadiest of the trees and held Amy in her lap. "Get him Chris!" Amy yelled. Diana herself smiled as Blackstar slipped and slid down the slope of defensive fighting, yielding to the ever intensifying swings and strikes Christian sent his way.

Luban found a seat a few feet away, Lovell leaned his frame against the tree Diana sat against. Maka rolled her eyes and turned her back to the fight, finding her book far more entertaining than the testosterone driven duel. Soul, on the other hand stood as close as he could without interfering and yelled insults to Christian and support to Blackstar.

Blackstar ducked beneath the next slice and watched as several strands of hair floated down past his eyes. He sliced then, aiming for Christian's shin, the ninjato traced a screaming lateral arc through the air. Christian picked up his forward leg and felt the blade claim the bottom quarter inch of his boot. He replied in kind with a shallow rap to Blackstar's forehead, stumbling the boy. Blackstar recovered quickly however and made a hasty retreat to the edge of the student made circle. He raised Tsubaki to his face and held her reverse handed. "Getting pretty good Chris, but you're going to have to be better than that to beat me!" he taunted.

Christian spun Brian to hold him in his right hand before rearing back and throwing him spear style at the boy. Blackstar easily dodged but glanced back as a yelp of fright caught his attention. He found Kirsten, who was sitting closest to them, staring wide eyed at the planted blade sitting between her knees. Blackstar smiled and charged Christian, charging soul energy in one hand, the other Tsubaki's two foot blade.

Blackstar did not notice Brian transform to human and morph his arms to blades before charging at him. Christian grabbed Blackstar's empty hand at the wrist and stuck it into the ground. However Tsubaki found her mark and a fresh cut was opened on Christian's arm. "Dammit!" He spat before head-butting Blackstar and passing him to the ground. Brian took the initiative and sidestepped his brother, leaping on Blackstar as he regained his footing. Blackstar stumbled under this new barrage and was rendered all but helpless to Christian's follow-ups. To put things simply, the brothers danced.

Each step measured, in time, and following a rhythm. Brian would strike, taking the block out, followed by a soul infused punch, kick, or jab from Christian. They danced to the song of battle, like they had known it all along, Blackstar all but helpless against them. It was then that Brian trapped the ninjato and ripped it from the boy's grasp. "Shit!" Blackstar gasped.

The next second was slow motion to the crowd as Christian placed his foot on his brother's knee and kicked off. They traced his flight as he reached out and landed a one hundred percent flush superman punch centered on the temple. Christian landed on his gut and rolled away as Blackstar stumbled and fought the enticing ground. It was futile though, soon after Blackstar did fall, welcoming the ground, face first, with open arms.

Sidd shook his head and walked out to Blackstar and performed a simple drop test. He picked up hand and dropped it, letting it flop to the dirt. "Flip him over." He sighed. Ivan and Soul were the first to respond getting to and flipping the obviously unconscious Blackstar onto his back. "He's out, the winner is Christian." Sidd said with enough enthusiasm to depress a mime.

Clapping was heard from the outer edges of the circle as the students stood to their feet. "That was, impressive." Diana said as Adam and Amy cheered for Christian. Maka closed her book and began walking back to the classroom, the other students began to follow.

Days passed, and Christian received a letter in the mail. His name was written in Kanji and English, from Kenji. He began to open it when there was a knock at the door. Christian opened the door of his room and was greeted by Spirit standing in the doorway, his face was solemn. "Lord Death, has requested your presence." He sighed. "You too Brian." He said past Christian. Minutes later they stood in the Death room.

Death turned and sighed. "Kenji Basho, age 20 and Jade Sonnet, age 19 have been killed in action while hunting a witch." Christian felt as if a train had just hit him in the gut, a tear formed in his eye. Brian lowered his head and licked his lips, unable to register the news.


	13. Chapter 13

_Kenji's last words and the confirmation of Death's fears._

Chapter 13

"My closest friend,

They are making me write this letter as a final will and testament, the need of which I hope is rendered obsolete. My friend, I have known you for not very long at all, though you have become almost a brother to me. If you are indeed reading this it means this woman has taken my life. I can only hope that somehow, someway Jade survived me. This is regrettably unlikely, I guess it's comforting then, that we shall die together and not suffer the pain of loss. However, if this is not the way it turns out, please, as my friend and brother take care of Jade.

You will be the first to read this, please break it to the others easy. Luban will not show it but she will hurt the most, I have seen here lose family and it destroyed her. As for Amy, tell Adam and Diana first and let them decide how to go through breaking the news to her. Lovell will cry for a day, write a poem and then be fine. He's strange that way, for that matter our entire motley crew is also quite strange. I wasn't close to many other students but Jade's letter may or may not be being read by Diana now. Depending on the contents or lack thereof of her letter please follow these wishes. If Jade should survive disregard the below and give all to her.

My belongings, clothing, school supplies, personal items and etcetera are to be sent back to my father in my home village.

My poetry and Japanese books are to be given to Lovell.

My family katana is to be given to Brian on his eighteenth birthday, with sheath and sharpener.

My furniture is to be donated to the school itself.

My collection of literature, excluding that that was given to Lovell, is to be given to Christian.

My ninjato is to be given to Diana on her eighteenth birthday.

My stuffed creatures are to be given to Amy.

My written poetry that I authored is to be given to Luban.

Finally my photo album containing the Japanese countryside is to be given to Adam.

I love you all, my family, my friends know that I will always be fighting beside you. Do not weep for me, I died in a way that honored the ancient bushido. I would have asked no other way.

Sincerely,

Basho Kenji"

Christian wiped the tear off his cheek and read the paper for the sixth time in a row. Brian laid on the floor of the Death room, arms behind his head racking his mind for answers and finding none. "It was fast, he probably didn't even feel it." Spirit offered. "He was hit by some sort of explosive magic, killed him instantly."

"Is she dead?" Christian asked. "The witch I mean." He didn't look at Spirit or Death, but kept his eyes fixed on the paper. The second page contained in the envelope was simply a copy written in Kanji. "Is the bitch dead?" He asked again, anger edging his voice. Death answered, "No, she escaped soon after the fight ended and fled the country. The witch Ursula is now lost to us."

"Christian?" Diana's voice reached him. Christian bowed his head, not daring to meet her gaze. "Lord Death, you called me?"

Death nodded, "Did you receive a letter from Jade today?"

"Yes, Lord Death." Diana reached into the gut pocket on her hoodie and produced an envelope. "I grabbed it on my way to class earlier and never read it."

"Where is Adam?" Spirit asked.

"Probably back in his room, we weren't together when the message came." She turned. "Sid should be speaking with him now." She looked at Christian, then to Brian feeling the uneasiness in the air and turned to Death. "What's wrong?"

"Jade has fallen, Kenji with her, they died fighting a witch." Spirit answered quickly. "That letter should be her final will and testament. If you don't mind, we would like you to read it." Diana's skin bleached over, her normal tan completion replaced by the phantom like chill of sorrow. Suddenly the paleness faded and she smiled. "Right, nice try Brian, I'm not convinced." Diana shook her head.

"It's no joke Diana, they're dead." Christian said softly.

Diana shook her head again. "Nope, Kenji is too good he can't die on a mission." She laughed, a nervous chuckle. "Right? That's right isn't it Lord Death? It's all a joke, Jade's in here isn't she?" She turned, tears starting to form. "Come on out guys! This isn't funny anymore dammit!" Christian stood to his feet and slowly walked to be beside her. "Not funny."

Christian reached out and embraced her in a hug, letting her head rest on his shoulder. It didn't take long, the tears soaked through his flannel and undershirt in seconds. "It's okay, it's okay." He whispered. She sobbed, her cries were muffled by his shirt, tears returned from his own eyes. Her pain was unimaginable to Christian, the time he had known Kenji was nothing to her knowing Jade. She was all but her sister, now sharing a grave with her fiancé.

"It was quick and painless, they probably only saw the flash." Spirit said. "It's more than could be said for the others." Death shot a look to Spirit.

"Others? So he wasn't alone?" Brian asked.

"No, this witch has been hunted before." Death's hand shot out of the mirror and struck Spirit in a chop.

Christian gently pushed Diana away. "What do you mean, 'hunted before'." Christian's lip curled in a half snarl. Death looked at Christian and shook his head in dismay. "Yes, Ursula has been hunted before by other miesters. She is powerful, but Kenji was the most powerful miester we have sent so far. He should have had no problem with Ursula, but we obviously miscalculated." Christian clenched his fist. "How many?"

"Ursula is a dangerous witch, but we thought Kenji could take her without any problems." Death continued. "How many Lord Death!" Christian yelled, a hushed silence fell on the room. Death looked at him, his mask giving away no emotion nor clue to what was racing through his mind. Spirit glanced at Death, waiting for a cue or anything to lighten the mood.

Christian glared at Death, staring him in the face and daring him to ignore him. After some time Death turned from facing them and said, "I don't have time for this." Red Rage over took Christian as he closed the distance to the mirror and punched it. The glass shattered and his fist was shredded by the glass, passing clear through the object.

Death's hand came out and slapped Christian, hard, sending him flying a few yards. "How dare you!" His voice changed to a much more menacing and lower tone, his old singsong voice gone. "Who do you think you are?" Christian got up and found his lip had been busted.

Brian and Diana watched as Death floated to where Christian was now standing and met his glare. "Mr. Davis you must control your anger, sacrifice is necessary." Christian snarled at him before asking. "How many you bastard?"

Death's body language changed, taking a step back. Christian had let his soul grow, pushing his limits in the event he had to fight Death. He saw something, and it scared him. After a long wait he finally spoke. "Twenty six, sixteen weapons and ten miesters. The miesters sometimes survive." Christian did not avert his gaze. "Lambs to the slaughter?"

"Quite the opposite, only the strongest are sent after Ursula. I had planned on eventually send Maka or Blackstar when the time came." Spirit shot a dirty look at Death but didn't speak. "She is at the top of the list, eluding me since long before your ancestors even came to this country."

"Why not send a death scythe then? They would make short work of her."

"No, she can sense souls and a death scythe would be instantly noticed. When she senses someone that strong she runs away." Death Explained.

"What about backup then? I thought Justin was supposed to follow him." Christian yelled.

"He did, but by the time Kenji sent out the distress call it was too late."

"Dammit!" Christian snarled again. "Are they fodder to you! Are they but playthings that can be replaced with a little training and time." Diana walked to Christian and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Please calm down Chris, yelling won't bring them back." She embraced him. "Please." Christian glared at Lord Death for a few seconds more before turning away and walking out of the room. Brian glanced at Lord Death before following Christian and Diana.

Shortly thereafter Death turned to Spirit. "It's him, the bastard actually did it." Spirit opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted. "The God of War, Guan Yu has returned."

Spirit perked up. "Right, you say that like I should know exactly who that is."

"The man who defied death, my father, and killed him." Death glanced at the mirror. "He swore he would return, swore to defeat Death, and now he's completed the first half of his vow. If he shows signs of defiance in the future and I will not hesitate to destroy him."

"That's a little harsh Lord Death." Spirit looked uneasy. "What has Christian done to deserve this? Just because he has the soul of this Guan Yu guy doesn't mean he'll try to kill you."

"He is the reincarnation of the God of War. It is his life's mission to destroy death, destroy me." Death shook his head.

"Are-are you scared Lord Death?" Spirit asked.

"No, but if I could feel fear I would be a fool not to be." Death answered. He waited for a while then turned back to Spirit. "Bring me the mission board, as long as the God of War is in human form let's use him."


	14. Chapter 14

_Setting the stage for a new arc, Death is using the God of War as a tool._

Chapter 14

Over the next few months Christian was rarely in the classroom as he was always on a mission. During this time Sid died and Stein became a teacher at the academy. He fought a cult in Canada that yielded seven souls and a Chupacabra infestation in Guadalajara that put him in the hospital for three days. Afterwards he found that vampires do indeed suck as he slaughtered a group of Cultists in Alaska, yielding fourteen souls. Afterwards he was sent to retrieve an artifact from the tomb of a long dead pharaoh which was laced with so many traps that he barely made it out alive. Then he was sent to Siberia where he found man who had corrupted the animals in the area to attack and kill people. Christian claimed his soul with relatively minor injuries. Finally he was sent to southern Florida to take down cannibals living in the swamps, claiming twenty souls alone. That concludes the first month of his extended missions. Month two was similar in difficulty and ludicrousy, claiming 27 total souls.

The third month began with a mission to St. Petersburg. We will pick up the story here, shortly after landing. "Hello and welcome to the city of Saint Petersburg. Здравствуйте и добро пожаловать в город Санкт-Петербург."

A man approached them, tall with a hard face and thick mustache. The rest of his head was bald save his thick eyebrows. "Christian and Brian, Да?" Christian nodded. "Добро пожаловать в Россию. (Welcome to Russia.)"

"Спасибо за приглашение. (Thanks for having me.)" Christian said in choppy Russian. The man's eyes widened in surprise. "Вы говорите по-русски? (You speak Russian?) Это редко в американцев. (That's rare in Americans.)"

"Уроки на плоскости. (Learned on the plane.)" Christian held up the case to a crash course Russian cd. "Downloaded it on my IPod." He extended his hand in greeting. "I'm Christian, call me Chris." The man took it. "Tsar. Feodor should be somewhere near." His English was heavy, tinged with the thickest accent Christian had yet to hear.

Brian greeted Tsar. "Name's Brian." Tsar took his hand. "No, I don't speak Russian, and it's been a long plane ride. Where do we go?"

Tsar turned. "Feodor should be getting car, but I'm not sure. Once he arrives we are going to travel to the Winter Palace to see the Kishin egg." Tsar turned. "It is strange my friends, Lord Death gave specific instructions that the Russian branch is not help you unless you are near death."

Christian glanced at Brian. "Sounds about right, ever since Ken died." Brian nodded. "I think he's getting us ready for something. That damn witch probably."

"He's sent you on these missions before then?" Tsar asked.

"Yep, no backup, no contacts, and no classes for the last month." Brian said. "I feel like he's trying to kill us." Tsar began walking towards the exit.

"Follow me boys." He said. "Sometimes Lord Death picks a favorite and will hound away at him until he either breaks you, or you break him. This way." Christian hefted his duffle bag onto his shoulder and began walking after the large Russian. "We will be traveling to Winter Palace where the Romanovs lived for centuries. There is a man there who we believe is close to, if not already being a kishin egg. He claims that the men he has killed were trying to kill him. He is paranoid my friends, and unfortunately he has to be put down." They reached the doors and entered the street as a black BMW coupe pulled up. "This will be my miester, Feodor."

"Это американцы, царь? (These are the Americans, Tsar?) Они не похожи на много. (They don't look like much.)" A tall man, slender in frame and would probably be over six feet should he stand. A brushing of black hair sat on his head, complemented by thick eyebrows and a scraggling beginnings of a beard.

"Ни ты, Русский. (Neither do you, Russki.)" Christian said with a smile.

The man smiled and sat back in his seat. "Я, возможно, был неправ, получить.(I might have been wrong, get in.)" He motioned with his hand. "Эти новые любимцы Мертвая, Федор. (These are Death's new favorites, Feodor.)" Tsar said as he opened the door for the brothers. "Их? (Them?)" Feodor turned and looked at Christian and Brian with a questioning eye. "Может быть, неправ. (Maybe dead wrong.)"

Brian got in first and had a visible look of annoyance on his face. "Please stop speaking Russian guys." He whined. "Just get us to this Winter Palace so we can kill this guy and go home."

Tsar looked at Christian with a look that asked every question at once. "Плохой добраться самолетом. (Bad plane ride.)" He responded. Tsar nodded before stepping into the car. "Иди, Федора. (Go, Feodor.)"

Hours later they sat in front of the Palace with the car running and the brothers standing outside. "Be careful Mr. Davis. This demon is somewhere inside and completely unpredictable." Tsar shut the door. "до свидания, удачи.(I hope to see you again, good luck.)"

Tsar reentered the car and sat down. Feodor turned to Tsar. "Вы не им сказать? (You didn't tell them?)" Tsar shook his head. "Сказал, чтобы не Господь Смерть. (Lord Death said not to.) Демон является не наше дело сейчас. (The demon is none of our concern now.) Теперь будем ждать и смотреть.(Now we wait and watch.)"

"И если он потерпит неудачу? (And if he fails?) Мы должны были пойти после удара команда не смогла. (We should have gone in after the strike team failed.)"

"Господь Смерть приказал нам, чтобы не мешать. (Lord Death has ordered us not to interfere.)"

"Это смертный приговор. (This is a death sentence.)" Feodor grumbled.

Christian, Brian closely behind, walked across the courtyard. To be modest it had fallen into disrepair, the kishin egg had likely scared away any maintenance men that would keep it in pristine condition as a tourist attraction. "Any thoughts?" Christian asked.

"Not really." Brian said. "From the report Lord Death gave us, the Russians have yet to make contact since the murders began. According to what they had, this man became extremely paranoid and began killing to protect himself. Apparently the scouts at the Russian branch had been monitoring him for years before." Christian watched his footing as he walked, the ground had become slush with ice underneath. No salt, nor melt had been poured to assist the walks, and nothing had been moved. In fact, save a group of six tracks in the snow, the ground was completely undisturbed, frozen in time itself. No light gave sign of life in the windows, but Christian could swear he felt eyes watching him.

The BMW revved slightly as it pulled away. Brian turned to watch it and suddenly got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. "Hey Chris, you know those feelings I've been getting lately?" Brian asked.

"Yeah." Christian answered. Something caught Christian's eye and he smiled, on the top floor he had seen the silhouette of a man. "One o'clock, top floor." He called back. "He knows we're here."

Brian glanced up and nodded. "I'll take your word for it." They reached the steps and began ascending. "By the way, how'd you learn Russian so quick?" He asked.

Christian scoffed. "The CD was just a review for me." He said. "I've been teaching myself ever since Siberia." Christian paused on the step and glanced back to the window before continuing. "That damn shopkeeper and his wife would've been just fine if they could understand us, but no. They have to grab the rifle and scream at us in a language neither of us understand." Christian began grumbling after that.

"Huh, and the other languages?" Brian asked, sparing a quick glance himself. "You speak English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Mandarin, and you're learning Arabic."

"Aramaic." Christian corrected. "And I don't speak all of them fluently, just enough to be dangerous."

"If I tried to learn all of those my brain would explode." Brian laughed.

"That is because you are stupid." Christian said with a smile, he came to the landing and gave a sigh. "I just pick up on languages faster, it clicks for me."

Brian met him and closed the distance to the door. "Door's open." The door was indeed open, the door sat ajar on the frame. Christian reached out and gave it a slight shove and listened as the door creaked into motion, sending chills down his spine. "Weapon form." Christian said.

Brian became the glaive and landed in his brother's hand. His blade had grown slightly with the intake of souls, now measuring two and a half feet. His staff had also grown thicker and had begun to take on a green undertone. Christian noticed the changes and assumed, rightly so, that this was a side effect of Brian's increasing strength. "Let's go."

They stepped through and noticed immediately a smell of rot and decay. To combat this Christian produced a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and tied it over his mouth and nose. The handkerchief he had laced with perfume for these occasions actually. Brian on the other hand chose to ignore the smell being that he had no nose at the moment. "Brian, use your sixth sense." Christian ordered.

Brian began to concentrate, focusing his willpower into detecting other souls. Through their lessons with Stein, during their brief stays at the academy, they had discovered that Brian possessed a very strong sixth sense, very rare in a weapon. Stein hypothesized that them being blood brothers meant that their sense was split between the two. This was supported by Christian's inability to see souls and Brian being able to see them if they were within sight. This was further supported by Christian being able to feel their presence and his brother not being able to. Simply put, Christian was "blind" and Brian was "deaf" to soul wavelengths. Here lately Brian was beginning to be able to see through walls and in distance.

Christian focused and sent out pulses like sonar. He received those moments later and smiled as the feedback revealed a presence a few floors up, whether or not it was the kishin was unknown. "Above us." Christian said. He began taking a brisk pace when the door slammed loudly behind him.

Christian turned with glaive cocked back ready to strike only to find the source of the odor in the air. "Damn." The brothers saw a man, half of one really, slumped against the wall beside the door. Blood splatter covered most of the wall and his eyes stared blankly into Christian's soul. "Poor bastard." Christian approached him to see more clearly the extent of the damage. His face was blackened by soot with pale, white skin peeking through smudges. His eyes were glazed over and bleached from decay, they may have once been brown to match his hair. His features gave away his nationality: hard jaw, thick lips, and the same nose as the brothers, Russian. The beginning of a beard was noticeable, etched onto his jawline and upper lip before connecting to a buzz cut hair do. His body was macerated, below the ribcage his organs seemed liquefied and frozen in some kind of puddle beneath him. As for his body below the waist, it was simply nonexistent. "What could have done this?" Brian asked.

"Something big, animal possibly, definitely our kishin." Christian looked closer as something shiny caught his eye. "Dammit, he's one of us." Christian shook his head, the shiny object was the skull hammer and sickle that made up the Russian insignia. "He probably got hit somewhere else and tried to drag himself out the door." Christian turned. "Yep, the blood trail leads out of the room." Christian began following it through the foyer and into the parlor, before he found the source.

The room was disgustingly coated in blood, the ceiling actually was covered with bloodsicles made by the amount of red liquid combined with the cold. Several bodies laid scattered across the floor, Christian counted eleven but with their conditions it was hard to be sure. "These can't all be meisters and weapons, the report said..." Brian started.

"We've obviously been lied to, again." Christian interrupted. He sent out another sonar pulse to find the kishin. "He's gone." Christian spun around ready to slice the first thing he saw. "No, he's closer to us now." Brian said. "I see him, down the hall, he's looking right at us."

Christian brought his glaive to fighting position and readied himself. "Be ready for anything." Christian could make out a rough silhouette in the corridor, tall and strong but indeed human. "Кто там? (Who is there?)" The man called.

Christian took a step back, vieng for a better position behind the threshold. "Ответь мне, черт возьми! (Answer me dammit!)" The man yelled. Killing intent filled the air and the air seemed colder as the demonic aura filtered through the room. Shadows seemed to move as the man drew closer, waxing and waning with his heartbeat as it filled the air. Christian continued to back away, his goal being the open foyer. Suddenly the man drew a rifle to his shoulder, the silhouette jerking in motion as the cruel shape was produced.

Christian reacted instinctively and brought the glaive up to block the shot. Boom! Just as he guessed the man fired and the shot pinged off his brother's blade, leaving a shallow dent. The shot itself echoed through the halls and made Christian's ears ring. Christian turned tail and retreated into the foyer, wincing as a bullet whizzed by his ear accompanied by the rifle's harsh bark.

Upon entering the foyer Christian found a statue by the staircase and hugged it tightly, trying to conceal his body from the sight of the kishin. Christian sent another pulse to check the demon's position and found him in the parlor still, but moving after them.

The man entered the room with clicking boots on the marble floor. Christian risked a glance over and saw that he was a rather small man, no more than five and a half feet, and seemed oddly familiar to him. His face was pock marked and had several hard features, stiff nose and full lips and a scraggling of a beard that covered his face, barely more than five o'clock shadow. His short black hair sat unkempt and a scarf covered his neck. The rifle was slung over his shoulder and Christian recognized it as a Mosin-nagant "I've seen him before." Christian whispered. "But where?"

Christian slid back behind the statue and held Brian out. "Hug the walls and get behind him, I'll get his attention." Without a word Brian assumed human form and began his quiet trek around the room. Christian sent another pulse to check the man's position and slipped his hand under his coat. "Please let him be slower than the others." He whispered as he produced Kenji's tanto blade. "Где ты? (Where are you?)" The man asked.

An idea occurred to Christian, he cupped his hand over his mouth and spoke. "Я нахожусь в комнате, демон. (I'm in the room, demon.)" Christian's voice bounced off the ceiling and sounded as if it came from all around. "Меня зовут Кристиан. (My name is Christian.)Что у вас? (What's yours?)"

Christian heard him take a step on the first step on the stairs behind the statue. A long pause was heard which was filled by the sound of the man sliding back the bolt of his rifle and a casing hitting the floor. Christian gripped the dagger tightly, waiting for his chance, then came the reply. "Иосиф, Иосиф Сталин. (Joseph, Joseph Stalin.)" Christian's blood ran cold.


End file.
